The government has reaffirmed its commitment to streamline the
system, improve patient safety and expand the role of medical
support staff in the NHS to relieve pressure on GPs and improve
access to services.
A new consultation will be launched today seeking views on draft
legislation to provide the General Medical Council (GMC) with
powers to regulate physician associates (PAs) and anaesthesia
associates (AAs) for the first time.
These professions support doctors and surgeons in providing
medical care and anaesthetic services to patients. With over
3,500 PAs and 160 AAs working already, regulation will enable
them to play an increasingly important part in supporting the
workforce to deliver the medical care appropriate for a growing,
changing and ageing population.
Regulation is key to help maximise the potential of these roles
to boost the workforce and increase their deployment on the
frontline, particularly in primary care. For example, once
regulated, opportunities could be explored for PAs to help
relieve pressure on GPs, including looking at the case for
extending prescribing responsibilities to PAs. This would free up
clinician time to focus on seeing patients and boosting the
number of appointments.
The government consultation, launched today, also represents the
next step in the government’s commitment to modernise the
regulatory system for healthcare professionals across the UK.
These changes will give all regulators the powers to design their
own regulatory processes to improve patient safety and help to
streamline the system to enable staff to join the NHS frontline
more easily.
Health and Social Care Secretary said:
I want all parts of modern, multi-skilled healthcare teams
to able to work to their full potential.
That’s why we’re modernising out of date regulatory legislation
to harness the full potential of roles such as physician and
anaesthesia associates to provide the highest quality care for
patients and relieve pressure on the NHS.
This could also open the door to expanding prescribing powers,
helping free up GPs, improve access to appointments and reduce
pressure on hospitals.
The wider proposals also include:
- Streamlining the system to allow regulatory bodies to update
and change their day-to-day regulatory processes and standards,
without needing the approval of Parliament or the Privy Council,
allowing them to respond to changes quickly.
- Modernising and improving registration and regulatory
processes to enable professions to respond to emerging healthcare
challenges more quickly and ensure patients can continue
accessing high quality services, confident they are provided by
practitioners who are fit to practice. For example, during the
Covid pandemic, regulators wanted to introduce remote fitness to
practise hearings to boost workforce numbers, but this required
to enable regulators to open emergency registers, slowing down
the process.
- Ensuring consistent powers for each of the healthcare
professional regulators as there is currently variation in the
powers regulators have available. This means regulators across
different professions will be working with similar powers,
presenting opportunities for collaboration and sharing of best
practice, ultimately aimed at improving patient safety and
outcomes.
PAs and AAs undergo two years of post-graduate studying on
average. PAs deliver health care and treatment to patients, such
as diagnosing illnesses, performing diagnostic and therapeutic
procedures and developing treatment management plans, under the
supervision of doctors whilst AAs generally work in hospitals and
emergency environments and provide care for patients before,
during and after their operation or procedure, including taking a
history, performing physical examinations, and using diagnostic
data to identify relevant problems.
The government’s ambition is to increase training places for AAs
and PAs, with 1,000 PAs being trained each year from 2023/24 and
250 AAs being trained each year from 2024/25.
The proposals will help provide a template for future reforms to
support the NHS and improve access for patients.
There are record numbers of staff working in the NHS helping to
ease winter pressures and we will publish a comprehensive
workforce strategy this year to help recruit and retain more
staff, with independently verified forecasts for the number of
doctors, nurses and other professionals that will be needed in
five, 10- and 15-years’ time.
Background information
- The consultation in March 2021 received over 500 responses
from individuals, organisations, healthcare professionals and
members of the public. Responses to the consultation showed clear
support for plans.
- Today’s consultation will be open until 11:45pm on 16 May
2023 and can be found on gov.uk. Healthcare professionals,
organisations and members of the public are encouraged to
respond.
