Exclusive: Advanced practitioners are being deployed to cover doctor rota gaps across the NHS, figures show
UK hospitals are using nurses to cover for doctors because of an NHS-wide shortage of medics, raising fears that “substitute doctors” may provide inferior care.
Health professionals known as advanced practitioners – who are mainly senior nurses – are undertaking roles usually performed by doctors in A&E, neonatal units, critical care and other areas.
Almost half of hospitals in the UK are deploying APs to cover gaps in doctors’ rotas, according to figures obtained by the British Medical Association under freedom of information laws from NHS trusts in England and health boards in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The BMA warned that the widespread use of “non-doctors” in medical roles is “simply not safe” and may be driven by hospitals using staff who are cheaper than doctors to save money.
