Professor of Respiratory Medicine FRCP #COPD Tobacco control, social justice, lung health 🫁 🚭 #NHS Born at 323ppm.

London
Joined August 2011
Lung Disease and Social Justice: COPD as a Manifestation of Structural Violence atsjournals.org/doi/full/10.… @atscommunity @asthmalunguk @ATSBlueEditor /n
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Deadline to feed back to @RCPhysicians and reject this deeply flawed and unsafe guidance on physicians' assistants practice has been extended to 2nd November.
Pleased to see that the @rcphysicians is inviting feedback (by 15th October) to guide its response to the deeply flawed draft clinical protocol to allow physician assistants to see undifferentiated patients. Link below
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Nick Hopkinson retweeted
Allowing physician assistants to see undifferentiated patients would be irresponsible and poorly evidenced, says @TheBMA's Tom Dolphin He warns that vague guidelines on supervision fail to address the safety concerns that have been repeatedly raised bmj.com/content/395/bmj-2026…
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Nick Hopkinson retweeted
The @lengreview clinical protocols for physician assistants, & the inadequate consultation scope, must be vigorously challenged by the Royal Colleges (including @RCPhysicians & @rcgp), as they are by @TheBMA. It's potentially dangerous if PAs see & treat undifferentiated patients
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Good to see clarity from @RCRadiologists in their PA response principles
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Pleased to see that the @rcphysicians is inviting feedback (by 15th October) to guide its response to the deeply flawed draft clinical protocol to allow physician assistants to see undifferentiated patients. Link below
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“The BMA’s position is clear and without caveat – PAs must not assess, diagnose, or manage undifferentiated patients in any healthcare setting, and resident doctors (at any level) must not be responsible for their supervision.”
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YES!
I’m not MRCP. But my comment is that assistants carrying out tasks given by doctors (and not seeing undifferentiated patients) don’t need more protocols.
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100% this
The BMA has written to Professor Leng objecting to draft clinical protocols permitting physician assistants to see patients who have not been assessed by a doctor.
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It's flu vaccination season. I've had mine, go get yours!
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Influenza continues to cause significant mortality and morbidity. Seasonal influenza vaccines reduce the severity of disease and prevent hospitalizations and death, especially among individuals at high risk. jamanetwork.com/journals/jam… #RespEd
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You can set up a direct debit to the RNLI here: rnli.org/
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The Government is consulting on restricting the promotion of vapes, tobacco and other nicotine products. If you support this, please follow this link to respond and ensure they take action: ash.org.uk/campaigns/the-tob…
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Genocide.
At least four children have been reported killed and many others injured in the Gaza Strip over the past five days. Attacks have also destroyed a warehouse containing nutrition supplies and severely damaged a UNICEF-supported water facility, further undermining access to the essential services that children and families rely on.  Details: unicef.link/4ceC7jf
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Has your NHS organisation changed how it uses physician associates since the Leng Review? If you have direct knowledge of local practice, tell DAUK. Responses can be named or unnamed. pasurvey.dauk.org Please share.
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Nick Hopkinson retweeted
A recent study analyzing 10 years of data from Kashi, China, found that short-term exposure to #airpollution like PM2.5, PM10, nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide is significantly associated with increased 🏥 hospitalizations for #COPD chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The risk was highest four days after exposure, and researchers identified particularly vulnerable groups, including younger adults, farmers, smokers, and patients with a history of severe 🫁 flare-ups, especially during cooler seasons. While these findings highlight the critical need for targeted public #health interventions and sandstorm control in desert-affected regions, they also underscore the importance of personal protective measures for at-risk individuals, as even common urban pollutants can exacerbate respiratory conditions. dovepress.com/article/downlo…
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Stop this nonsense.
CONSULTANT LEVEL ADVANCED PRACTITIONER ❌Competencies completed to a minimum of an ST3 Registrar or national accreditation ❌Conduct ward rounds, supervising and teaching junior Drs and ACPs. Managing & making autonomous decisions about patients with highly complex conditions
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Surprising but perhaps timely to see senior clinicians asking about the definition of a doctor. The @WHO is clear that this includes attending medical school and being licensed to practice medicine. So for an HCP to be ST3 equivalent they need to have attended medical school and have postgraduate medical training
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