Zoe Wyrko

Earlier this week, Ealing Hospital named its boardroom after my dear friend Jenny Vaughan who sadly died last year.

I just ❤️it that it’s the Major Incident Room….’got a crisis? ☎️ Jenny!’

No evidence that PAs add value in GP settings, finds academic review There is ‘no evidence’ that physician associates (PAs) add value in GP practices, according to a new academic review.

Such an important & timely piece of research interrogating the evidence base for the safety of physician associates in the NHS. (TL:DR worryingly thin with widespread & significant gaps.)

Thank you, @trishgreenhalgh.bsky.social

#LengReview

www.pulsetoday.co.uk/news/workfor...

NHS to hire physician associates from abroad despite training quality fears Recruitment plan launched as controversy still rages over role of the profession and its assessment in the UK

This is shocking. The NHS is to be allowed to hire physician associates (PA’s) from Ghana, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh, despite concerns over the quality of their training

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/02...

PAs: What are the patient safety issues? @patientsafetylearning.org CEO Helen Hughes speaks to me about the role of PAs in the NHS.

@trishgreenhalgh.bsky.social @martinmckee.bsky.social @doctoroxford.bsky.social @drbarrymonk1.bsky.social

Link▶️https://youtube.com/watch?v=zfXLTQbDvYg #patientsafety

This is Arthur. He seems to have misplaced his legs and needs your help to find them. They are about one inch long and Arthur-colored. 13/10

So here’s the update. The billionaire owner of the Guardian preparing to get rid of a core part of the news org + 100 journalists.
If you’re a Guardian or Observer reader, please share this. The need for a strong, free & independent press couldn’t be greater. Yet, here it is.

And that's a wrap on @adamgordon1978.bsky.social's presidency at @gerisoc.bsky.social as he hands the chain of office to @jkdhesi.bsky.social. #BGSconf

Thank you!! And we have evidence to support what we can do to prevent these issues and to support people to live better with this level of complexity @gerisoc.bsky.social @adamgordon1978.bsky.social @sallygreenbrook.bsky.social

Our now traditional #bgsconf selfie in front of a Xmas tree. Although it's hard to tell, there are in fact 2 trees in this one 🎄🎄❄️☃️🧑🏻‍🎄✨ @geribaby.bsky.social #gerisky

I am pretentious enough to post occasional poems I like on FB. I'm minded to do it here too, as you can't go wrong with a good poem. I like this little verse by Betjeman.

Poetry Corner:

The voluntary and community resources are vast, but we don't know this, our community teams do, so use that intelligence to get help for people
#BGSConf

I’d forgotten how lovely the @gerisoc.bsky.social family actually is. A wonderful day at #BGSConf catching up with old friends. Such positivity and support in the room. Genuine joy at a brilliant piece of research presented by a medical student, and real interest in how peoples lives are.

I was talking to a pro-PA GP today. He had absolutely no idea that the training courses have no standards.

All we need is £1 billion...and we could do a lot with remote monitoring, predictive analysis and LLMs! Thanks @gerisoc.bsky.social, fellow pitchers @emmavardy2.bsky.social Atul Anand and dragons @mancunianmedic.bsky.social @geribaby.bsky.social David Attwood for a fun start to #BGSconf!

Unheard of! Queues to get into #BGSConf @gerisoc.bsky.social Just to hear @adamgordon1978.bsky.social’s last opening speech. I can hear the screaming fans from here!

Observer staff set to strike over planned Tortoise sale More than nine in 10 UK-based union members at Guardian Media Group back the case for industrial action

The UK's oldest Sunday deserves better than this from GMG.

www.ft.com/content/635c...

I've posted some links this morning that you might find interesting.

See you there!

UK’s damaging views on ageing revealed in new report analysing language used across society Language used across society to describe ageing and older people risks ‘damaging UK’s social fabric’, our new report says.

.... And The Centre for Ageing Better publish some great stuff ageing-better.org.uk/news/uks-dam...

Frailty: Language and Perceptions | British Geriatrics Society This report, originally published in June 2015, summarises research commissioned by BGS and Age UK on older people's attitudes and feelings towards language around frailty.

Here's another good one (from when I used to be involved in policy) www.bgs.org.uk/resources/fr...

Found this on the @gerisoc.bsky.social website from earlier this year. www.bgs.org.uk/languageguide

It shouldn’t, accepting falling as part of getting older is pure and simple ageism. It means an important warning signal gets ignored and accepted as ‘normal’

Are we using #BGSConf for the Autumn Meeting of @gerisoc.bsky.social this coming week?
Looking forward to being there, moderating a session and supporting the Griffin Community Trust on their presentation on Friday morning

Looking forward to #BGSConf tomorrow, and catching up with some old friends. Disappointed though to see how many references to 'the elderly' there are in the posters. Have we really not moved on? Surely @gerisoc.bsky.social is in a position to help stop such 'othering' ageist language?

See you there Claire!

Sorting out scope of practice of physician associates in the UK: the clock is ticking The decision to introduce legislation in the UK to regulate Physicians Associates (PAs) and Anaesthetic Associates (AAs) has been hotly contested. From a historical perspective, this is to be expected...

Martin and Louella remind us that time is running out on the PA issue in UK.
www.bmj.com/content/387/...

#ThoughtForTheDay

Trust in health systems is essential:
Trust of the public and patients
Trust of health workers
Trust of politicians
We explore these issues, drawing on philosophy, psychology, economics, and sociology in a new European Observatory book
eurohealthobservatory.who.int/publications...

look at this absolute unit