Helen Salisbury: Physician associates in general practice—time to pause and reflect

Last week the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) advised its members to halt the recruitment of physician associates (PAs).1 This came after a review of survey results showing its members’ experiences of, and views on, the PA role. The responses were analysed by an independent research company and published in full—in welcome contrast to events that followed a similar study in another royal college.2More than 5000 GPs and GP trainees responded to the RCGP questionnaire, around 10% of the membership. The headline findings are that four in five respondents are concerned about patient safety, and 50% are aware of specific examples of safety being compromised by misdiagnosis, inappropriate treatment plans, or poor communication. The survey also uncovered a lack of triage, so that PAs were seeing potentially seriously ill patients, and a lack of clinical supervision, with no time set aside for this in many surgeries. More than a…
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