More than 1000 physician associates could enter NHS workforce each year

More than 1,000 physician associates (PAs) could begin their careers in the NHS every year after regulators approved dozens of courses to teach them.

The General Medical Council (GMC) said it had given 36 courses formal approval to teach PAs and anaesthesia associates (AAs).

Overall, these courses had capacity for up to 1,059 PAs and 42 AAs to qualify each year.

The GMC said that approving training courses would mean that “patients, employers and colleagues can be assured that PAs and AAs have the required knowledge and skills to practise safely once they qualify”.

PAs are graduates – usually with a health or life sciences degree – who have undertaken two years of postgraduate training.

They are supposed to support the work of doctors but hit the headlines after the death of Emily Chesterton, 30, in November 2022 from a pulmonary embolism. She was misdiagnosed by a PA on two occasions.

According to the NHS, PAs work under the supervision of a doctor and can diagnose people, take medical histories, perform physical examinations, see patients with long-term conditions, analyse test results and develop management plans.

Most associates work in GP surgeries, acute medicine and emergency medicine.

AAs work as part of the anaesthesia and wider surgical team.

There are plans to extend the number of PAs and AAs working in the health service.

The GMC, which took over the regulation of PAs and AAs in December last year, said that it had approved 33 PA courses.

But four of these – Bradford, Greater Manchester, Queen Mary University of London and Sheffield Hallam – had been approved with “conditions”.

This meant that some concerns were identified during the approval process.

But the GMC said each of these courses had a “targeted action plan” in place to address concerns.

It did not approve the course at the University of East London.

There are only three courses for AAs – in Birmingham, University College London and Lancaster – which were all approved, the GMC said.

“This is an important milestone in the regulation of PAs and AAs and will provide assurance, now and in the future, that those who qualify in these roles have the appropriate skills and knowledge that patients rightly expect and deserve,” said Professor Colin Melville, the GMC’s medical director and director of education and standards.

“As a regulator, patient safety is paramount, and we have a robust quality assurance process for PA and AA courses, as we do for medical schools. We have been engaging with course providers for several years already, and we only grant approval where they meet our high standards.”

Danny Mortimer, chief executive of NHS Employers, said: “The formal accreditation of the courses of study that PAs and AAs must complete is an essential component of regulation and public safety.

“We await the outcome of the Leng Review but recognise that individual NHS organisations also have a responsibility to support PAs and AAs to both use their knowledge safely with patients, and to ensure appropriate professional development and supervision.”

Professor Phil Banfield, chairman of council at the British Medical Association, said it was “difficult to understand” how the GMC could approve the courses when the Leng review into PAs and AAs has not concluded.

He added: “The medical profession has alarming worries about the quality and robustness of these courses, with reports of exams with 100% pass rates.

“We have made doctors’ concerns clear in our submission to the Leng review, which includes a call for an independent body of doctors, without links to course providers, to determine proportionate and safe expectations of what can be covered in curricula for assistant roles within a two-year training period.”

Published: 30/04/2025 by Radio NewsHub