The debate around the involvement of physician associates and anaesthesia associates in the NHS has been one of the UK’s most heated political discussions in recent years. It created tribes of differing opinions online, entrenched views, and some extremely nasty behaviour on social media.

X/ Twitter has not exactly been known for its calm discourse, but this situation took things to new heights, at least among the medical community. I lost track of the number of heated exchanges and threads which looked like they’d been written in anger to Settle The Score and make things clear Once and For All.

As the camps formed, it became clear that there were distinct splits in opinion between some doctors and the physician associates and anaesthesia associates. Some of the loudest voices threw accusations at one another, and attacked each others’ professionalism or medical knowledge-base.

This must have been alarming to patients witnessing the online confrontations, and the unpleasant discourse served to amplify concerns already held by many about the state of the NHS, and their ability to access safe and timely healthcare.

But whenever a debate becomes heated in this way, it’s important to zoom back and consider why things have unravelled so spectacularly. And in this case, I’ve maintained consistently that it is politicians, not the healthcare professionals involved, who are to blame…

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