Review of physician and anaesthesia associates launched

An independent review of physician associates (PAs) and anaesthesia associates (AAs) has been launched by the Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting today (20 November 2024) to consider how these roles are deployed across the health system, in order to ensure that patients get the highest standards of care.

The review will look into the safety of these roles, how they support wider health teams, and their place in providing patients with good quality and efficient care. It will also look at how effectively these roles are deployed in the NHS, while offering recommendations on how new roles should work in the future.

The review will seek evidence from a range of voices – including patients, employers within the NHS, professional bodies and academics.

Professor Gillian Leng CBE will independently lead the review. She is an experienced leader in the UK healthcare system who has championed patient safety and has a deep understanding of the British medical system.  

Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said:  

Many physician associates are providing great care and freeing up doctors to do the things only doctors can do.

But there are legitimate concerns over transparency for patients, scope of practice and the substituting of doctors. These concerns have been ignored for too long, leading to a toxic debate where physicians feel ignored and PAs feel demoralised.

This independent review, led by one of the UK’s most experienced healthcare leaders, will establish the facts, take the heat out of the issue, and make sure that we get the right people, in the right place, doing the right thing.

The review will consider the scope of PA and AA roles, which currently include gathering medical histories, performing initial examinations, organising tests to support doctors and reviewing patients before surgery.

To increase transparency in these roles, the review will also look into measures to ensure patients know when they are interacting with PAs or AAs, so they are clear on the type of clinician they are seeing and for what reason.

Welcoming the review of the physician associate and anaesthesia associate professions, Charlie Massey Chief Executive and Registrar of the GMC said:

‘We welcome this announcement; the discussion about physician associate (PA) and anaesthesia associate (AA) roles and deployment needs to be addressed and this review is an important step towards achieving that. It’s vital that we all work together to provide clarity and assurance for patients, doctors, PAs, and AAs alike.

‘We are also pleased the government has reaffirmed its commitment to bringing PAs and AAs into regulation, following its request to us in 2019 to take on this essential role. These roles are an important part of the health system, but they are currently unregulated. Regulation is a vital step towards strengthening both patient safety and public trust in these professions. It will help provide assurance to patients, employers and colleagues that PAs and AAs have the right level of education and training, meet the standards that we expect of the professions we regulate and that they can be held to account if serious concerns are raised.

‘We continue our preparations to start regulating PAs and AAs from December, in compliance with the legislation passed by the UK and Scottish Parliaments.’

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