GP surgical procedures ought to cease hiring doctor associates, BMA urges

GP surgeries should stop hiring physician associates and phase out those already employed, the British Medical Association last night said.

The union revealed members of its General Practitioners Committee had voted in favour of the ban amid concerns over patient safety.

It also called for an end to physician associates (PAs) seeing patients with undiagnosed conditions as they are ‘inadequately trained’ for such a task.

Some 2,800 PAs are employed nationally and NHS England has revealed plans to expand the role as a way to cope with growing healthcare demand.

PAs are not as rigorously trained as doctors and only have to complete a two-year postgraduate course rather than a medical degree. They came under scrutiny after 30-year-old Emily Chesterton was twice misdiagnosed by a PA. She later died from a pulmonary embolism in 2022.

Stock photo of a willing physician hearing his colleagues at conference. The BMA revealed members of its General Practitioners Committee had voted in favour of the ban amid concerns over patient safety

The NHS logo at the Springfields Medical Centre in the centre of Warrington, Chesire. PAs are not as rigorously trained as doctors and only have to complete a two-year postgraduate course rather than a medical degree

The BMA’s General Practitioners Committee for the UK passed a motion saying: ‘The role of PAs in general practice is fundamentally unsafe and there should be no new appointments in general practice.’

An NHS spokesman said: ‘The NHS has issued updated guidance on the appropriate deployment of PA’s roles.’