Physician associates and anaesthetic associates in UK: rapid systematic review of recent UK based research (BMJ, 7 March)

Summary

The aim of this study was to research on the efficacy and safety of UK physician associates and anaesthetic associates in the context of an ongoing policy review.

The study found that UK literature on physician associates and anaesthetic associates is sparse and of variable quality, and some is outdated. In this context, the absence of evidence of safety incidents should not be misinterpreted as evidence that deployment of physician associates and anaesthetic associates is safe. Findings of apparent non-inferiority in non-randomised studies may obscure important unmeasured differences in quality of care.

New research is urgently needed to explore staff concerns, examine safety incidents, and inform a national scope of practice for these relatively new and contested staff roles.

The findings from this UK based study should be interpreted in the context of the wider international evidence base.