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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Denis Campbell Health policy editor

Public confused over physician associates working in NHS, research finds

General view of staff on a NHS hospital ward.
A quarter of those asked erroneously believed that a physician associate was a doctor. Photograph: Jeff Moore/PA

Many people are deeply confused about the growing number of “physician associates” in the NHS and wrongly assume they are doctors, research suggests.

Around 4,000 physician associates work in the NHS in England. Ministers and health chiefs plan to increase the figure to 10,000 to help plug widespread gaps in the NHS workforce.

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