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New role, new country: introducing US physician assistants to Scotland

New role, new country: introducing US physician assistants to Scotland
New role, new country: introducing US physician assistants to Scotland
This paper draws from research commissioned by the Scottish Executive Health Department (SEHD). It provides a case study in the introduction of a new health care worker role into an already well established and "mature" workforce configuration It assesses the role of US style physician assistants (PAs), as a precursor to planned "piloting" of the PA role within the National Health Service (NHS) in Scotland.

The evidence base for the use of PAs is examined, and ways in which an established role in one health system (the USA) could be introduced to another country, where the role is "new" and unfamiliar, are explored.

The history of the development of the PA role in the US also highlights a sometimes somewhat problematic relationship between P nursing profession. The paper highlights that the concept of the PA role as a 'dependent practitioner' is not well understood or developed in the NHS, where autonomous practice within regulated professions is the norm. In the PA model, responsibility is shared, but accountability rests with the supervising physician. Clarity of role definition, and engendering mutual respect based on fair treatment and effective management of multi-disciplinary teams will be pre-requisites for effective deployment of this new role in the NHS in Scotland.
1478-4491
1-8
Buchan, James
6629fec3-18ff-484c-8b5f-258b63e934c8
O'May, Fiona
d86c9763-ec71-47d5-a6c5-8427056e89cb
Ball, Jane
85ac7d7a-b21e-42fd-858b-78d263c559c1
Buchan, James
6629fec3-18ff-484c-8b5f-258b63e934c8
O'May, Fiona
d86c9763-ec71-47d5-a6c5-8427056e89cb
Ball, Jane
85ac7d7a-b21e-42fd-858b-78d263c559c1

Buchan, James, O'May, Fiona and Ball, Jane (2007) New role, new country: introducing US physician assistants to Scotland. Human Resources for Health, 5 (13), 1-8. (doi:10.1186/1478-4491-5-13).

Record type: Article

Abstract

This paper draws from research commissioned by the Scottish Executive Health Department (SEHD). It provides a case study in the introduction of a new health care worker role into an already well established and "mature" workforce configuration It assesses the role of US style physician assistants (PAs), as a precursor to planned "piloting" of the PA role within the National Health Service (NHS) in Scotland.

The evidence base for the use of PAs is examined, and ways in which an established role in one health system (the USA) could be introduced to another country, where the role is "new" and unfamiliar, are explored.

The history of the development of the PA role in the US also highlights a sometimes somewhat problematic relationship between P nursing profession. The paper highlights that the concept of the PA role as a 'dependent practitioner' is not well understood or developed in the NHS, where autonomous practice within regulated professions is the norm. In the PA model, responsibility is shared, but accountability rests with the supervising physician. Clarity of role definition, and engendering mutual respect based on fair treatment and effective management of multi-disciplinary teams will be pre-requisites for effective deployment of this new role in the NHS in Scotland.

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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 4 May 2007
Published date: 4 May 2007
Organisations: Faculty of Health Sciences

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 389786
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/389786
ISSN: 1478-4491
PURE UUID: 3c01ccdf-ab3b-465b-9da4-58299fd2816a
ORCID for Jane Ball: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-8655-2994

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Date deposited: 15 Mar 2016 09:53
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:51

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Contributors

Author: James Buchan
Author: Fiona O'May
Author: Jane Ball ORCID iD

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