December's You Made a Difference team award goes to a hard-working team with a huge range of skills that provides many services to the Trust - the Physician’s Assistants team.
The physician’s assistant (PA) service at CUH was established in 2001 and has since grown considerably. They are a highly skilled team that provides excellent clinical skills, is responsive and adapts to any given situation, and we are very proud of their achievements.
Physician’s assistants support junior doctors by taking on some of the clinical skills, allowing them to focus on the patient’s care and treatment.
The team’s satisfaction comes from knowing they have provided a great service and the best support they can offer for the patients.
This is reflected in the winning nomination from a colleague, extracts of which told us:
“The physician’s assistants cover all the medical wards at CUH so the team is always busy. Like other teams, they work extra to support their colleagues when required.
“The team provides so many services to the Trust, as well as the usual tasks of venepuncture (obtaining intravenous access, most commonly for blood sampling), cannulation and arterial blood gases. The team also works in the Emergency Department, which can sometimes be traumatic and upsetting.”
After difficult shifts it’s so nice to see the team chat where they are thanking their colleagues for helping and pulling together.
“They also run clinics three times a week, are part of the Resus team attending emergencies and also Major Trauma. They also support the sepsis pathway, responding to any alerts when there is a suspicion of sepsis, usually responding within 15 minutes to ensure they have provided the access and tests ready to begin treatment. Our paediatric physician’s assistants also cover the GP clinic, outpatient clinics and ward areas.”
I am very proud of this team that works so hard. They have such a range of skills; there are still a lot of staff that don’t realise the skills this team has.