health service

Mia and her mother became convinced she was on the autism spectrum and Christina pushed for an assessment at the local children’s mental health service in Islington, north London.

Mr Guckian said the health service could not afford to see industrial action because of the current dispute over pay reviews.

He added pay levels for all healthcare workers needed to be addressed as the health service was haemorrhaging staff across the border into hospitals in the Republic of Ireland.

He said he felt it was his job to “shield” the health service from “people being difficult in Number 10”.

The current NHS workforce plan sees PAs and AAs as a crucial part of the staffing mix in the health service.