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The General Medical Council begins regulating Anaesthesia Associates and Physician Associates

13 Dec 2024

From 13 December 2024, the General Medical Council (GMC) will begin to regulate Anaesthesia Associates (AAs) and Physician Associates (PAs). This change has been introduced through legislation called the Anaesthesia Associates and Physician Associates Order (AA and PA Order). The decision to regulate AAs and PAs was made by the Government. 

As the regulator, it is the role of the GMC to make sure that professionals are qualified, competent and follow a code of conduct. Our role is to review how well the GMC performs that job and to make any recommendations for improvement. Our oversight will now include the way the GMC regulates AAs and PAs as well as doctors. Our work includes auditing the GMC’s performance and assessing whether it has met our Standards of Good Regulation through our performance review process. We also review decisions about registrants’ fitness to practise by the Medical Practitioners’ Tribunal Service.

We will consider the GMC’s approach to regulating AAs and PAs through our 2025/26 performance review which will cover the period from 1 October 2024 to 30 September 2025. We plan to publish our report by the end of December 2025.

ENDS

Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care
Contact: media@professionalstandards.org.uk

Notes to the Editor

 

  1. The Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care oversees 10 statutory bodies that regulate health and social care professionals in the UK.
  2. We assess their performance and report to the UK Parliament. We also conduct audits and investigations and can appeal fitness to practise cases to the courts if we consider that sanctions are insufficient to protect the public and it is in the public interest.
  3. We also set standards for organisations holding registers for health and social care occupations and accredit those that meet them and continue to meet them.
  4. We share good practice and knowledge, conduct research and introduce new ideas to our sector. We monitor policy developments in the UK and internationally and provide advice on issues relating to professional standards in health and social care.
  5. We do this to promote the health, safety and wellbeing of users of health and social care services and the public. We are an independent body, accountable to the UK Parliament.
  6. Our values are – integrity, transparency, respect, fairness and teamwork – and we strive to ensure that they are at the core of our work.
  7. More information about our work and the approach we take is available at www.professionalstandards.org.uk