Statement welcoming UK Government announcement of review into physician associate and anaesthesia associate roles

Published 20 November 2024

Welcoming the Department of Health and Social Care’s announcement of an independent review of the physician associate and anaesthesia associate professions, Charlie Massey Chief Executive and Registrar of the GMC said: ‘We welcome this announcement; the discussion about physician associate (PA) and anaesthesia associate (AA) roles and deployment needs to be addressed and this review is an important step towards achieving that. It’s vital that we all work together to provide clarity and assurance for patients, doctors, PAs, and AAs alike.

'We are also pleased the government has reaffirmed its commitment to bringing PAs and AAs into regulation, following its request to us in 2019 to take on this essential role. These roles are an important part of the health system, but they are currently unregulated. Regulation is a vital step towards strengthening both patient safety and public trust in these professions. It will help 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.

‘We continue our preparations to start regulating PAs and AAs from December, in compliance with the legislation passed by the UK and Scottish Parliaments.’

- Ends

Additional information

  1. In 2019 the GMC was asked by the four UK governments to take on regulation of physician associates (PAs) and anaesthesia associates (AAs), following a public consultation on the regulation of medical associate professionals held in 2017 by the Department of Health and Social Care.
  2. Earlier this year legislation introducing the regulation of PAs and AAs was passed by the UK and Scottish Parliaments, which sets out a legal duty for us to regulate PAs and AAs from the end of this year.
  3. We continue our preparations to start regulating PAs and AAs from December 2024, in compliance with the legislation passed by the UK and Scottish Parliaments.
  4. As part of this, we have consulted on the rules, standards and guidance needed to implement this legislation and we are now considering the responses so that we can finalise our approach, before regulation begins.
  5. We will recognise and regulate doctors, PAs and AAs as three distinct professions. Physician associates and anaesthesia associates are not doctors, cannot replace them, and should never be used to fill gaps in doctors’ rotas. When we begin regulating PAs and AAs later this year, we will expect them to be supervised by a doctor and to practise within their competence. In regulating PAs and AAs, we will be clear that people in these roles will have a responsibility to communicate who they are, and their role in the team. Employers also need to make sure there are appropriate governance structures in place, to make sure that PAs and AAs are working under supervision.