Parents fear spread of ‘associate’ doctors at NHS will end in more tragedies

A 30-year-old actress whose symptoms were dismissed as anxiety died of a blood clot.

Emily Chesterton believed she had seen a GP, but had in fact been seen twice by a physician associate (PA), a newer type of medical role that involves significantly less training.

Her parents, Brendan and Marion Chesterton, both 64 and retired teachers, said they have serious concerns about plans for thousands more PAs to be employed to combat staff shortages as part of the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan.

Chesterton’s calf pain and shortness of breath should have suggested a pulmonary embolism and meant she was sent to A&E. A coroner concluded this would probably have saved her life. Instead she was told to take anxiety pills. She collapsed that evening. She was taken to hospital but her heart stopped and she could not be revived.

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Source: The Times, 10 July 2023