The BMA has called for ‘full transparency’ from the GMC regarding their position on physician associate (PA) scopes of practice.
In a letter sent to the GMC today, the BMA claimed the regulator had refused to share its submission to the RCGP’s consultation on a scope of practice for PAs working in GP practices, which was open earlier this year.
As a result of this decision, the BMA said it has now been ‘forced’ to submit a Freedom of Information request demanding the release of this information.
The union said ‘doctors deserve to know the GMC’s position on Royal College scope of practice proposals for PAs’ and that ‘seeking to conceal’ this ‘risks further erosion’ of trust in the regulator.
Today’s letter, shared publicly, also refers to the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) draft guidance for PAs, which the college consulted on for six weeks over the summer.
Following its consultation, the RCGP set out a scope of practice for PAs last month which severely limits their current practice, stipulating that PAs must not see patients who have not been triaged by a GP, nor patients who present for a second time with an unresolved issue.
The GMC, which will regulate PAs and anaesthesia associates (AAs) from December, has been clear that it will not itself set out a scope of practice.
GMC chair Dame Carrie MacEwen told Pulse last week that PAs will need to ‘develop’ their scope of practice as ‘an individual thing’, due to the ‘variety of different roles’ they work in across the NHS.
However, following confusion over the relevance of royal college scopes to fitness-to-practise proceedings, the regulator later clarified that it will ‘have reference to’ scopes of practice produced by royal colleges.
Posting its letter to the GMC on X today, the BMA said: ‘Following a refusal to disclose its submissions [to the RCGP and RCP], we have written to the GMC calling for full transparency.’
The letter, sent by BMA UK Council chair Professor Phil Banfield, said that last week the Council had ‘expressed profound concern’ regarding the GMC’s ‘decision not to share’ its submissions with the union.
It argued that this is ‘at odds’ with the GMC’s commitment to ‘transparency’ as one of its ‘key values’.
Professor Banfield continued: ‘I hope you would agree that the medical profession deserves to know the view of the regulator, and the future regulator of AAs and PAs, on proposals put forward by Royal Colleges on scope of practice and associated guidance.’
‘Seeking to conceal the GMC’s views risks further erosion of what little trust remains between the medical profession and its regulator, which is hugely disappointing,’ he added.
In response, a GMC spokesperson said: ‘We’ve received a letter from the British Medical Association (BMA) and will be responding in due course. We have also received a Freedom of Information Access request from the BMA, which is being considered in accordance with our usual procedures.’
The regulator emphasised that healthcare regulators do not set scopes of practice that determine what individual professionals can do, and that this is the same for doctors.
The GMC also said it supports the work that individual colleges are currently leading to produce guidance on PA scope of practice following initial qualification, and stressed that the starting point for this guidance must be the pre-qualification curricula that the GMC will approve.
The RCP said last week that it will publish an ‘updated version’ of its draft guidance for PAs following the consultation, but the college clarified that it will ‘not set out a clinical scope (or ceiling) of practice’ as it believes ‘this would should be steered and funded centrally’ by NHS England and the GMC.
In response to a recent coroner’s prevention of future deaths report, which involved the actions of a PA, the GMC urged royal colleges and NHS employers to ensure their individual scopes are ‘aligned and consistent’ to avoid ‘confusion’.
