Our role as the regulator of PAs and AAs
As a multiprofessional regulator, we recognise and regulate doctors, PAs and AAs as three distinct professions.
Regulation helps 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.
This is the underlying purpose of regulation, for doctors, for other healthcare professionals, and is for PAs and AAs too.
Our role as the regulator of PAs and AAs means that we:
- set the standards of patient care and professional behaviours PAs and AAs need to meet
- set the outcomes and standards that students qualifying from PA and AA courses must meet to join our register, and approve the curricula that courses must deliver
- check who is eligible to work as a PA or AA in the UK and check they continue to meet the professional standards we set throughout their careers
- give guidance and advice to help PAs and AAs understand what’s expected of them
- investigate where there are concerns that patient safety, or the public’s confidence in PAs and AAs, may be at risk, and take action if needed.
