‘This is not an approach Australia should adopt’, says AMA president Danielle McMullen.
Physician assistants are unregulated, a safety risk and unnecessary in the Australian context, says the AMA president, amid concerns about following in the UK’s footsteps.
Meanwhile, the UK has final ceded to calls to interrogate the safety of its physician associates.
In July, outtakes from a business case to increase the PA workforce across Sunshine Coast University Hospital, Nambour General Hospital and Gympie hospital from three full-time equivalent roles to 16 arose online.
The proposal, although delayed – thanks to AMA Queensland, according to the national branch – lives on.
In a letter penned to federal health minister Mark Butler, AMA president Danielle McMullen said PAs were not the solution to the workforce crisis, especially given the lack of regulation and training programs in Australia.
“If Queensland Health decides to expand the role of physician assistants in their health system, they will be relying on the recruitment of overseas trained physician assistants,” she said.
“There will be no independent assessment of their skills and experience, unlike the situation for other established health professions.
“This represents a significant risk to patient safety, particularly given the level of risk that is associated with the frontline roles they are likely to be recruited to.”
PAs are not AHPRA-registered health professionals, nor are there any accredited training programs currently open in Australia.
There was a time when the PA model was piloted in Australia. Two training pathways for PAs existed: a three-year undergraduate course at James Cook University and an 18-month Masters at the University of Queensland.
Less than 70 PAs were trained in Australia before the last course was discontinued around 2018.
This pilot made it clear that there was no real need for PAs in the Australian context, said Dr McMullen.
Australia should not follow in the footsteps of countries like the UK, who have become highly reliant on PAs and are only now moving to regulate them as healthcare workers, she added.
“There are also worrying developments in the UK where physician assistants are being deployed to work in roles well beyond their level of education, training and experience as the National Health Service continues to struggle after years of neglect and underinvestment.
“These measures are being taken in desperation as opposed to being part of strategic and well considered workforce planning and development.
“This is not an approach Australia should adopt.”
Last week, the UK announced that it would review the safety of physician associates and their position in the healthcare sector, after years of concern from the likes of the British Medical Association, the Royal College of GP and beyond.
But, as it stands, the controversial plan for the UK’s General Medical Council – their AHPRA equivalent – to regulate PAs is set to continue, despite calls from the BMA to axe PAs from general practice.
Dr McMullen said Australia already had a workforce of highly skilled health professionals that were continuing to evolve to meet the changing needs of the community.
“There is no apparent need for the introduction of a ‘new health profession’ in the Australian context and we believe the focus of all governments should be on building the skills and capacity of the existing healthcare workforce, including encouraging more team-based models of care,” she said.
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Dr McMullen called on the federal government to ensure that any response to the recently released scope of practice review focused on the Australian context and use of the existing workforce.
“Physician assistants will not enhance our workforce capability, prove disruptive, and have a negative impact on the recruitment, training, and retention of already established health professions.”
A Queensland Health spokesperson told The Medical Republic that the department was currently analysing feedback from key stakeholders involved in its statewide consultation into the role of PAs.
