Doctors raise alarm over expansion of ‘less qualified’ physician associates | LBC debate

Physician Associates and Anaesthesia Associates have been found to have acted illegally in 1 in 8 NHS trusts, LBC has uncovered.

The British Medical Association has launched legal action against the General Medical Council (GMC) over the regulation of these roles, neither of which require either a medical degree or postgraduate medical training.

James O’Brien hears voices from both sides of the debate, with junior doctor Eilidh (03:09) making the case against physician associates, and caller Andy (10:13) accusing sceptics of ‘project fear.’

Under the terms of their employment, PAs and AAs are not permitted to perform acts which are the preserve of clinicians. On paper, their main duty is to lessen the burden on doctors by helping to manage patients and reduce the demands on their time. 

However, LBC has found that PAs and AAs have acted beyond their purview in 1 in 8 NHS trusts, attempting to prescribe medication and commission ionising radiation scans - tasks they have no legal right to carry out. 

The data was obtained via Freedom of Information Requests to over 50 NHS trusts. 

The findings have been described as “staggeringly high” by the co-founder of Anaesthetists United, Dr Richard Marks, whose organization has launched complimentary legal action against the GMC over the regulation of AAs.

But speaking to LBC, Dr Marks warned that the figures could be “the tip of the iceberg”: 

“It’s a staggeringly high figure for one in eight trusts to admit that people in their organisation are acting illegally - and I stress that it is illegal. There are specific laws on prescribing and ordering X-Rays and ionising radiation. 

“I think this is the tip of the iceberg, though, because there are so many ways people get around the regulations. In anesthetics, people are using Patient-Specific Directives, which is a particular way that doctors can prescribe something to be given by someone else, [with] very strict constraints over the dose, repeated dose and timing. 
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