She told LBC listeners: \u201cThe Doctors\u2019 Association UK feels very strongly that the regulation of PAs and AAs is a step in wrong direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt will blur the lines between doctors and non-doctors, which PAs and AAs essentially are, compromising patient safety, patient care and just confusing the public in general.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA patient should know who they\u2019re seeing and should know the training and backgrounds of the individual they\u2019re seeing.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n DAUK co-chair Ms Helen Fernandes<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Ms Fernandes said that while PAs can and do \u2018contribute valuably to patient care\u2019, they are not trained to the level of doctors<\/p>\n\n\n\n She said: \u201cPhysician associates are supposed to introduce themselves as such, and make it clear to that individual sitting in front of them that they are not a doctor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe vast majority of them do, but when you\u2019re a patient sitting in a consultation you don\u2019t actually hear or take in everything that\u2019s being said to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe confusion starts with the name, physician associate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOriginally this role was named a physician\u2019s assistant. So an assistant delivering in the medical care assistant to a doctor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut now associate is used, which is confused with associate specialist, which is a term given to a very senior, highly trained and experienced doctor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSo they\u2019re blurring there to begin with.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She added: \u201cIf you\u2019re regulated by the GMC, the vast majority of the public will assume you\u2019re a doctor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s only if you go onto the GMC website and have a close look that you\u2019ll be able to see and understand those doctors\u2019 qualifications, if you know what\u2019s written on a GMC log for a doctor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAgain we have this blurring that PAs and AAs will sit alongside doctors on the GMC register, and it\u2019s only when they\u2019re looked at with scrutiny will a patient be able to say they haven\u2019t seen a doctor today, they\u2019ve seen a PA.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ms Fernandes concluded her interview by questioning whether the roll-out of PAs and AAs gave the NHS and the public value for money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She said: \u201cIf you look at the funding that\u2019s been given to GP practices, what\u2019s called the ARRS funding. That funding is to be used for non-doctor roles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey can\u2019t use that funding to employ GPs, but they can employ PAs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere\u2019s a recent example of a GP practice in Surrey, which made three GP doctors redundant and replaced them with PAs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhy? Because the funding comes from elsewhere and they actually cost half the price of a GP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut there\u2019s evidence to suggest the care they deliver is substandard, as in inefficient, because every episode of patient care should be checked by a doctor, should be checked by the supervising GP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s difficult to see how that is good for the NHS and the public, aside from the fact the Department of Health can fudge its figures in terms of the numbers of people working in a GP practice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Head](\"https:\/\/www.dauk.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Helen-Fernandes-pic-bw.jpg\")
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