BMA Warns of Legal Consequences for Physician Associates Pilot Program

June 28, 2024 TruthUSA

The Doctors’ trade union has initiated a judicial review against the regulator the GMC for what it describes as a ‘dangerous blurring of lines’ between medic and assistant roles.

The British Medical Association (BMA) has issued a warning of potential legal action against the General Medical Council (GMC) over what it perceives as a problematic overlapping of roles for NHS patients between qualified doctors and physician associates (PAs).

Concerns have been raised by the BMA, the trade union for British doctors, regarding the GMC not being the appropriate body to regulate PAs and anaesthesia associates (AAs), who typically undergo a two-year training instead of a five-year medical degree, although they might also hold a degree in a bio-science field.

As part of recent legislation changes, the GMC, responsible for maintaining the register of eligible practitioners, will begin regulating PAs and AAs starting from December of this year.

The BMA emphasizes that it acknowledges the necessity of regulating PAs but believes that assigning this responsibility to the GMC undermines and devalues the medical profession and leads to confusion among patients.

Legal representatives for the union have sent a pre-action letter to the GMC questioning the use of the term “medical professionals,” which the BMA insists should only refer to qualified doctors.

The BMA stated: “The GMC has been using the term ‘medical professionals’ in its materials to refer to all future registrants, including doctors and associates. This is evident in Good Medical Practice, the primary GMC guideline for doctors, which sets standards of care and behavior that doctors are expected to follow and is used as a reference for determining fitness to practice.”

‘Worrying’ Expansion of Physician Associates

The concern raised by the BMA and the legal action being pursued underscores the potentially alarming growth in PAs, whose numbers exceeded 1,500 as of June 2023. There are worries that the government is looking to cut costs since associates are paid less than doctors, with starting salaries just over £32,000. An experienced PA might earn slightly over £53,000 after a minimum of five years in the field.

As of last year, there were 93 full-time equivalent individuals working as AAs, but the government aims to recruit more people into these roles by offering training pathways for nurses, other healthcare professionals, and graduates with relevant degrees.

The union has highlighted its concerns through several tragic cases, including the death of 30-year-old Emily Chesterton, who was diagnosed with a blood clot in 2022 after being repeatedly misdiagnosed by a PA at her GP’s office in London, attributing her symptoms to anxiety and the effects of “long COVID.” Ms. Chesterton believed she had consulted with a doctor.

BMA Council Chair Philip Banfield announced the initiation of the judicial review claim at the BMA’s Annual Representative Meeting in Belfast earlier this week.

In its letter before taking action against the GMC, the BMA highlighted how the NHS had caused confusion among patients and even within the system itself through a recent advertising campaign, “It’s a GP Practice Thing.” A unified medical board in Bradford issued an apology for the campaign and withdrew it following complaints.

Misuse of Title ‘Physician’ Can Be Criminal

The letter underscores that the professional title “physician” is protected under the 1983 Medical Act, misuse of which could result in a criminal offense.

Undated family handout photo of Emily Chesterton, who died from a pulmonary embolism after being misdiagnosed on two occasions by a physician associate. (PA)

Mr. Banfield expressed: “[PAs] are not doctors, and we have seen the tragic consequences of what happens when this is not made clear to patients. Everyone has the right to know who the healthcare professional they are seeing is and what they are qualified to do—and crucially, not to do.

“The central and solemn responsibility of the GMC is to protect the public from those who are not registered as qualified doctors masquerading as doctors. It has become increasingly evident that broadening the category of ‘medical professionals’ to include individuals without medical degrees has made this task significantly more challenging, especially considering recent incidents showing that it blurs a critical line.”

“It is still possible to backtrack from this uncontrolled and poorly planned experiment in reducing the medical skills and expertise available to patients.”

Anaesthetists United, an independent group distinct from the BMA, is preparing a “separate but complementary” legal action concerning what the BMA calls the “lack of a national regulation of scope of practice” for AAs.

Dr. Richard Marks, co-founder of Anaesthetists United, stated: “Doctors and their patients are in agreement in opposing the outgoing government’s plans to substitute doctors with Associates. Pursuing legal action seems to be the only viable path forward.”

The GMC informed The Epoch Times via email: “As a multi-professional regulator, we will recognize and regulate doctors, PAs, and AAs as three distinct professions.

“PAs and AAs do not possess the same level of knowledge, skills, and expertise as doctors. They are not doctors, but they can and do play important roles within multidisciplinary teams when appropriate and effective clinical oversight and supervision are in place.

“We understand from years of ongoing discussions with patients, the public, doctors, and stakeholders that they expect PAs and AAs to maintain high professional standards, just like doctors. We remain committed to collaborating with patients, professionals, Royal Colleges, the BMA, and others to ensure safe and effective regulation for these groups.”

The BMA has given the GMC until June 28 to respond to the pre-action letter.

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