PAs must not carry out child abuse assessments, safeguarding experts insist

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By Olivia Bowthorpe

Clear guidance on the appropriate staff to undertake child protection medical examinations has been issued, following the discovery that a physician associate (PA) has carried out such assessments.

The guidance, from the Faculty of Forensic & Legal Medicine of the Royal College of Physicians, states: "The clinical knowledge and skills required for the assessment and examination of children in these circumstances, are such that they are far beyond the level at which a PA should be working, even under supervision."¹