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Physician associate review will consider ‘scope of practice’

24th January 2025 by NASGP

Physician associate review will consider ‘scope of practice’

Physician associates (PAs) and anaesthesia associates (AAs) may receive an enhanced scope of practice following the Leng Review, the Government announced this week.

In the ‘areas to be covered’, as laid out this week on gov.uk, authors said: “[The review] will also consider the scope of practice for PAs and AAs at the start of their working career, including where PAs and AAs might release time for doctors to focus on more specialist care, and if and when an enhanced scope of practice might be appropriate.”

The BMA published its own recommendations for a scope of practice for physician associates last year. Weeks previous to the announcement, the General Practitioners’ Committee for England voted to phase out PAs.

At present, PAs can continue to practise without registration until December 2026 according to a new timeline laid out by the General Medical Council (GMC).

Dr Richard Fieldhouse, NASGP chair, said: “This government’s review of PAs can’t come soon enough, for the sake of their supervising GPs who bear responsibility for their every clinical encounter, and our PA colleagues who too will welcome much greater clarity as to the constraints of their role.

“The application of the principles of safety, quality and effectiveness are mandated to every GP at their annual appraisal, thus informing their professional registration and license to practise.

“So it’s imperative that these same principles are mandated too to those that we supervise and take responsibility for.”

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