Regulating anaesthesia associates and physician associates: consultation on our proposed rules, standards and guidance

This consultation is now closed. This was a technical and detailed consultation on rules, standards and guidance so we want to thank everyone who has taken the time to give their views.

We received responses from doctors, physician associates (PAs) and anaesthesia associates (AAs), patients and the public, and a variety of organisations on the proposed rules, standards and guidance that set out how we’ll regulate PAs and AAs. 

The consultation also covered draft principles that will inform the content of fitness to practise decision-making guidance that will apply to doctors as well as to PAs and AAs from December 2024.

We’re currently analysing all the responses we received. We’ll consider level of agreement with our proposal, how different groups have responded, and the reasons that respondents put forward to support their views. We’re also drawing on the results of our patient research. We’ll publish a report at the end of the year with the conclusions of the consultation and summarise any changes we have made to our rules, standards, and guidance based on the feedback we received. 

The final rules will then need to be approved by our governing council ahead of statutory regulation of PAs and AAs commencing in December 2024.

Consultation document

Supporting documents

The documents below provide detailed information on our proposed rules, standards and guidance for the regulation of PAs and AAs, and on fitness decision-making principles that will apply to doctors, PAs and AAs from December 2024.