The BMA is urging MPs to reject government plans to regulate “physician associates” with the GMC. The BMA has said that allowing the General Medical Council (GMC) to regulate physician associates (PAs) would “blur the lines” between doctors and non-doctors.
Many medics are opposed to the increased use of PAs, who they fear patients will wrongly see as doctors, even though they do not have a medical degree. They have expressed concern that letting the GMC – which regulates doctors – regulate PAs from April, as ministers plan, is “potentially dangerous” because it could confuse the public, diminish the status of doctors, and leave patients at risk of being treated by someone without the appropriate skills.
Full story in The Guardian, 18 January 2024