The British Medical Association (BMA) has announced that its general practitioners (GPs) committee for the UK has voted in favour of phasing out physician associates (PAs) in general practice.
An “overwhelming majority” of members voted in favour of the motion, declaring that the role of PAs in general practice is “fundamentally unsafe”.
There should be no new appointments of PAs and the role should be phased out, the motion states, adding that PAs are “inadequately trained” to manage undifferentiated patients and that these sessions should be immediately suspended.
PAs are healthcare professionals with a generalist healthcare education who support doctors in the diagnosis and management of patients. There are currently around 2,000 PAs working in general practice, according to the Royal College of GPs.
The BMA said that those in existing PA roles should be given opportunities to retrain and take up other positions in the NHS.
Katie Bramall-Stainer, chair of the BMA’s GPs committee, said: “We are aware that this is a challenging and politically heightened issue. At the heart of it is patient safety, which needs to be prioritised, alongside acknowledging the responsibilities of employing practices and welfare of existing employees.
“It’s no secret that we desperately need more staff in general practice, but we need to be sure that staff who see patients are suitably trained and competent to see them unsupervised.”
The decision comes just under a month after the Royal College of GPs’ governing UK council voted to oppose the role of PAs working in general practice.
The council also approved three sets of guidance to support practices already employing PAs.
Kamila Hawthorne, chair of the Royal College of GPs, said: “The role of PAs in general practice has dominated the medical agenda for well over a year now and we understand the strength of feeling among our members and their concerns for the safety of their patients.
“It became very clear at [this] council discussion that we needed to speak out in opposition to the PA role within a general practice setting and I am pleased that our processes have enabled us to do this in a collegiate and democratic way.”