Health Minister Shannon Fentiman backflips on ‘fake doctor’ plans after backlash

Shannon Fentiman has binned plans to ­appoint physician assistants to hospitals within hours of ­receiving queries from The Courier-Mail.

Health Minister Shannon Fentiman has binned plans to ­appoint physician assistants to hospitals within hours of ­receiving queries from The Courier-Mail.

The state’s doctors were in uproar about the news that health dollars were being ­invested in the assistants – who are not registered with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency – rather than employing more fully qualified doctors.

The plan to appoint physician assistants was revealed in a document being circulated as part of the consultation process.

Australian Medical Association president Nick Yim has been vocal about misplaced investments to fix the healthcare crisis, such as clinics that have no doctors, hospitals with no beds, pharmacists treating patients and vital healthcare services shutting up shop at 6pm.

Physician assistants are common in Britain, and a handful already work in Queensland, but Dr Yim voiced concern that doctor “substitutes” would be accepted here.

The physician assistant role was piloted in Queensland from 2008-10.

“We are concerned about some of the evidence coming out of the UK of the impact of physician assistants on patient safety and the existing workforce, particularly junior doctors,” Dr Yim said.

Royal Australian College of General Practitioners president Nicole Higgins said the plan was deeply concerning.

AMA Queensland president Dr Nick Yim

“Replacing doctors with physician assistants impacts health equity, training opportunities for doctors and, even worse, health outcomes and confusion among patients over if they are seeing a doctor,” she said.

“A recent report found UK physician associates without the required training have missed life-threatening diagnoses and attempted to illegally prescribe drugs.

“Australia needs more trained GPs and other specialists, with an appropriate distribution to serve our communities.”

There are no training courses in Australia for physician ­assistants so recruits would come from overseas.

Queensland Health allows the assistants to prescribe medicines in the hospital system and to order certain scans.

The government requires them to work under the supervision of two doctors.

“If physician assistants are going to be recruited from the UK and the US, we need to know how their level of expertise and competence will be ­assessed,” Dr Yim said.

On Thursday the Health Minister scrapped any futher consultation on the proposal.

A spokesman claimed there were no plans to recruit more physicians assistants despite a document circulated as part of the consultation process.

Dr Yim said doctors maintained there was insufficient evidence to support the safety and efficiency of the PA role.