While Physician Associates (PAs) and Anaesthesia Associates (AAs) are currently only advised ‘to say that they are not medically qualified if they are engaged in a task or function that a patient might reasonably expect a doctor to perform’, and despite there being ‘ample evidence that patients and the wider public do not know or understand how an associate differs from a doctor’ and concerns that their use ‘poses systemic risks to patient safety’, the GMC has not failed in its duty to regulate PAs and AAs, placing responsibility squarely on their employers and insurers: https://caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ewhc/admin/2025/2270
Charles Cooper | Barrister 