GMC to become “multi-professional regulator”

The GMC said that, at the end of this year, it will become a multi-professional regulator when it becomes the regulator for physician associates (PAs) and anaesthesia associates (AAs).

On the GMC’s website, GMC Chair Professor Dame Carrie MacEwen wrote:

“The legislation that underpins our role and what we do is changing. At the end of this year, we’ll become a multi-professional regulator for the first time since 1956, when the General Dental Council took on full responsibility for the regulation of dentists. 

“As a multi-professional regulator, we will recognise and regulate doctors, PAs and AAs as three distinct professions. PAs and AAs don’t have the same knowledge, skills and expertise as doctors. They are not doctors, and they can’t replace them. They can however play important roles within multidisciplinary teams. Our approach to regulation reflects this.”

She confirmed the next steps in the AA and PA regulations are:

“Our next step will be to consult on the rules, standards and guidance needed to implement the new legislation and regulation of PAs and AAs.

“We are also using this consultation as an opportunity to help improve our regulatory processes for doctors, so we’ll also seek views on proposed changes to our existing fitness to practise decision-making principles.

“This is a year of flux, but I am hopeful about the path ahead. The legislation that introduces regulation of PAs and AAs also lays the groundwork for future changes to our regulatory framework for doctors, which will enable us to be more responsive, flexible and better able to support good practice.

“I do recognise there are strongly held views about these changes, but it’s at times of heightened tension that it becomes even more important for interactions to be respectful and constructive, whether online or face to face. We all want the same thing: to work in supportive environments that provide effective, safe patient care – we must work together to achieve that.”

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