Government launches independent review of Physician and Anaesthesia Associate professions
An independent review of Physician Associates (PAs) and Anaesthesia Associates (AAs) has been launched by the Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting today to consider how these roles are deployed across the health system, in order to ensure that patients get the highest standards of care. Professor Gillian Leng CBE will independently lead the review.
The review will look into the safety of these roles, how they support wider health teams, and their place in providing patients with good quality and efficient care. It will also look at how effectively these roles are deployed in the NHS, while offering recommendations on how new roles should work in the future. It will consider the scope of PA and AA roles, which currently include gathering medical histories, performing initial examinations, organising tests to support doctors and reviewing patients before surgery.
To increase transparency in these roles, the review will also look into measures to ensure patients know when they are interacting with PAs or AAs, so they are clear on the type of clinician they are seeing and for what reason.
The review and next steps will be published in the Spring.
Source: Department of Health and Social Care, 20 November 2024
Related reading: Physician associates: What are the patient safety issues? An interview with Asif Qasim