'Rename physician associates' to end patient confusion

PHYSICIAN associates should be banned from diagnosing patients who have not seen a doctor and renamed “assistants” to end confusion, a review has recommended.

- By Hanna Geissler Health Editor

Introduced in the early 2000s, physician and anaesthesia associates get two months of postgraduate training and are meant to be supervised by senior doctors.

But concerns have been raised about their increasing use, the confusion as patients mistake them for doctors - and the deaths of people misdiagnosed by PAs.

A review by Prof Gillian Leng, Royal Society of Medicine president, found six deaths linked to contact with PAs recorded by coroners in England.