Physician associates in primary health care in England: A challenge to professional boundaries?

Like other health care systems, the National Health Service (NHS) in England has looked to new staffing configurations faced with medical staff shortages and rising costs. One solution has been to employ physician associates (PAs). PAs are trained in the medical model to assess, diagnose and commence treatment under the supervision of a physician.

Physician assistants in English primary care teams: a survey.

Ensuring that health care teams have a mix of skilled professionals to meet patient need, safely and effectively, is a priority in all health services. The United Kingdom, like a number of other countries, have been exploring the contribution physician assistants, who are well established in the United States of America, can make to health care teams including primary care. This study investigated the employment of physician assistants in English primary care and their contribution through an electronic, self report, survey.