Physician associates will be the subject of a new independent review ordered by health secretary Wes Streeting, the government has announced.
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 is set out to consider the safety and the scope of physician associate and anaesthetic associate roles.
GPs have repeatedly raised concerns about the PA role. Last month the General Practitioners’ Committee voted to phase the role out from general practice.
Dr Richard Fieldhouse, chair of NASGP, said: “When will the NHS learn to invest the same amount of time and effort into reviewing grandstand vanity projects like this before they’re implemented, not once the damage has been done.
“This is especially true when it will have such an obvious, direct and significant impact on the livelihoods of a fragile workforce, and an effect on patient care and safety.
“The physician associate role is a gift to general practice that has somehow made GPs feel they’ve been robbed, and the sooner this report’s findings are published, the sooner we’ll be able to work better together.”