Responding to the publication of the UMAPs physician associates ‘Base scope of practice’ document, Dr Hilary Williams, chair, and on behalf of, the RCP oversight group for activity related to PAs (PAOG), said:
‘We need the NHS to design and implement a nationally agreed scope of practice for physician associates (PAs). The RCP published interim guidance (produced by an oversight group made up of consultants and resident doctors) on scope and supervision in December 2024, in which we were clear that PAs must support – not replace – doctors, have a nationally defined ceiling of practice, and have a clearly defined role in the MDT.
'They should only be supervised by senior doctors, and they should clearly introduce and explain their role in all clinical settings. PAs must never function as a senior decision maker, nor should they decide whether a patient is admitted or discharged from hospital – they are not autonomous practitioners and they are not trained to make independent diagnostic or management decisions in secondary care.
‘The RCP position remains the same following the publication of this UMAPs document.’