Introduction to proactive quality assurance
Standards for the delivery of PA and AA pre-qualification education sets out our standards for the delivery of physician associate (PA) and anaesthesia associate (AA) courses.
We regularly check that these standards are being met. We do this in two main ways: proactive and reactive quality assurance.
Proactive quality assurance is where we actively check PA and AA courses to make sure they are meeting our standards. The model is a risk-based continuous cycle of quality assurance over four years. It aims to be a flexible and collaborative approach to the quality assurance of the PA and AA courses we work with, giving us assurance of their quality management processes on a proportionate scale.
The proactive quality assurance model
The model is based on a cycle whereby once every four years courses declare that they meet our standards.
Between declarations on an annual basis we will:
- Ask every course for an annual self-assessment questionnaire.
- Triangulate our data and intelligence alongside the course's self-assessment questionnaire to give us further evidence of how a course is meeting our standards
- Have multiple feedback meetings with each course to report on self-assessment questionnaire analysis and discuss the annual quality assurance summary.
- Complete regulatory quality assurance activity to further explore areas of good practice, excellence or risk.
- Produce an annual quality assurance summary including an overall regulatory statement and next steps.
View the self-assessment questionnaires and annual quality assurance summaries.
