Doctors concerned PAs still being employed to treat 'undifferentiated patients'

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By Adele Waters

Doctors have expressed concern over NHS employers continuing to recruit physician assistants to treat patients who have not been assessed or diagnosed by a doctor first.

The criticism follows a BMJ investigation that unearthed several recent NHS job advertisements for PAs spelling out responsibilities in job descriptions that included assessing patients presenting with “undifferentiated and diagnosed conditions” and undertaking face-to-face, telephone, and digital consultations for “patients presenting with undifferentiated and diagnosed conditions”.

The adverts for the primary care posts come more than a year after the government promised to end the deployment of PAs into roles that deal with undiagnosed patients.

This was one of 18 recommendations from an independent review into the work and safety of PAs, then known as physician associates, led by Professor Gillian Leng.

All the recommendations, including changing the names of the roles, were accepted by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) when it was published last July.