Physician associates in the UK: some fundamental questions that need answers now

Healthcare in the UK is facing a crisis. At issue is the creation of new groups of health workers called physician associates (PAs) and anaesthetic associates (AAs).1 Originally PAs and AAs were envisaged as assistants to doctors to increase their productivity by relieving them of some routine tasks. However, in many hospitals and general practices they are being deployed to replace doctors, taking on increasingly complex roles, including the assessment and management of patients with undiagnosed problems.2 This is despite them having completed only a two year training programme. While most will also have a science degree, this need not be in a subject related to medicine. Concerns have been exacerbated by the simultaneous reduction in medical specialty training posts,3 the fact that many PAs and AAs are paid substantially more than foundation doctors despite much less training than the doctors they work with,4 evidence that they are illegally prescribing…
Read Original Article: Physician associates in the UK: some fundamental questions that need answers now »