The General Medical Council (GMC) has published the results of its consultation on the rules, standards and guidance by which it will regulate physician associates (PAs) and anaesthesia associates (AAs). It will begin regulating PAs and AAs from 13 December. The consultation, which ran between March and May this year, attracted more than 3,000 responses, from individuals as well as organisations.
Feedback from the consultation, as well as research the GMC conducted with patients, has helped shape aspects of how the regulation of PAs and AAs will work. Changes to the GMC’s initial proposals, based on feedback in consultation responses, include:
- An initial proposal for a single GMC case examiner to make decisions on fitness to practise cases involving PAs or AAs has been changed. Instead, there will now be two case examiners.
- A specific requirement has been included for course providers to ensure student PAs and AAs inform patients when they are involved in their care. This builds on standards required of practising PAs and AAs to introduce themselves and explain their role.
- Behaviours indicative of serious misconduct have been expanded to include cases where a PA or AA has deliberately misled patients or others about their registered status. This mirrors the approach taken with doctors.
A new provision that confirms the GMC cannot ask PAs and AAs to provide evidence of reflective practice when applying to join, leave or re-join the GMC register. The report – Regulating physician associates and anaesthesia associates - Proposed rules, standards and guidance: report on the public consultation – includes a detailed summary of all the feedback the GMC received as part of its consultation.
As well as outlining where proposals have been changed based on responses, the report also explains why the GMC has not amended certain proposals, and shows where respondents agreed and disagreed with what was proposed.
Where consultation responses were on issues outside the regulator’s remit, for example about the role and deployment of PAs and AAs, the GMC says that it will share the feedback with other relevant bodies. It will also provide the findings to the independent review of the PA and AA professions, being led by Professor Gillian Leng.
The GMC’s consultation also sought feedback on principles that shape its fitness to practise decision-making guidance that will, from spring next year, also apply to doctors.
Changes made following feedback include confirmation that certain matters – such as a fixed penalty notice for a traffic offence – will not be serious enough to pose a risk to public protection and so will not be investigated, and guidance on how time spent under an interim order or measure should be considered by the GMC or a Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service tribunal when determining the length of a final sanction or measure.
GMC Chief Executive Charlie Massey said: "Regulation is a vital step towards strengthening patient safety and public trust. It will provide assurance to patients, employers and colleagues that physician associates and anaesthesia associates have the right level of education and training, meet the standards we expect, and can be held to account if serious concerns are raised.
"This was, by its nature, a very technical consultation. But the feedback we have received has been extensive and helpful. We are grateful to everyone who took the time and effort to participate. By doing so they have, unquestionably, improved the regulation of these professions."
The GMC will begin regulating PAs and AAs from 13 December. Initially, a small number will be invited to apply for registration before the end of the year. The regulator will then invite the rest of those on existing voluntary registers by the end of January 2025. From December 2026 it will be an offence to practise as a PA or AA in the UK without GMC registration.
For a copy of Regulating physician associates and anaesthesia associates - Proposed rules, standards and guidance: report on the public consultation click here.
