Responding to the General Medical Council beginning to regulate physician associates (PAs) and anaesthesia associates (AAs), Dr Paul Donaldson, General Secretary of HCSA – the hospital doctors’ union, said:

“They may now be regulated by the doctors’ regulator, but PAs and AAs are not doctors. It is vital to ensure that no patient mistakenly thinks they are seeing a doctor when they are really seeing an associate professional. Instead, GMC regulation further blurs this line.

“PA and AA roles remain poorly defined, with carte blanche for employers to deploy them as they see fit. This could continue to have serious professional and legal repercussions for the doctors who supervise them and are held responsible for their work. The lack of a clear scope of practice will not resolve public concerns and will not help keep patients safe.

"For doctors, this is not about protectionism – it’s about protecting patients. Everyone deserves better, including MAPs themselves.”

Notes to editors:

• MAPs are medical associate professions, in this case physician associates (PAs) and anaesthesia associates (AAs).
• HCSA is the trade union and professional association for hospital doctors of all grades across the UK.

For further details or comment, please contact press@hcsa.com.