Physician Associates in General Practice



|Competencies |taking medical histories from patients |

| |carrying out physical examinations |

| |seeing patients with undifferentiated diagnoses or long-term chronic conditions |

| |formulating differential diagnoses and management plans |

| |performing diagnostic and therapeutic procedures |

| |developing and delivering appropriate treatment and management plans |

| |requesting and interpret diagnostic studies |

| |providing health promotion and disease prevention advice for patients |

|Salary |an average UK PA salary is around £35,000 (£17.90 p hr) with a starting salary of around £31,000, |

| |(either band 6 or band 7 of Agenda for Change) |

|Prescribing |Currently non prescribers |

|Medical Indemnity |Currently, the Medical Protection Society (MPS), Medical Defence Union (MDU) and Medical and Dental |

| |Defence Union of Scotland (MDDUS) will provide professional indemnity for physician associates working |

| |in general practice. Additional coverage through the Medical Defence Union or other provider may be |

| |advisable depending on the physician associates roles and duties. |

|Availability |The availability of UK universities providing programmes for PAs is developing at pace: as of January |

| |2015 there were 6 universities training PAs and by the end of 2016 there is likely to be more than 20. |

| |The number qualifying is predicted to rise from around 35 in 2014 to between 400 and 450 in 2018. |

|Training |Most Diplomas in PA Studies require a 2:1 in a life science degree. A two-year intensive course covering|

| |additional knowledge but mostly clinical application then leads to a PG diploma in PA studies. On |

| |completion and after passing the national exam, PAs can join the voluntary register currently managed by|

| |the faculty of physician associates. |

| | |

|Links – Faculty |fparcp.co.uk |

What can physician associates do?

• Act upon alerts (e.g. QOF) and reminders during a routine consultation.

• Undertake surgeries during extended hours in accordance with the access needs of the practice population and the contractual obligation of the practice

• Diagnose and formulate a management plan, with reference to a health professional where appropriate.

• Follow up the care of patients as appropriate.

• Service triage the morning and afternoon/evening sessions which will include face to face consultations and telephone consultations/advice/triage.

• Respond to medical problems presented by patients, including history taking, examination, investigation, diagnosis, treatment and referral where appropriate.

• Provide appropriate preventative health care and advice.

• Provide medical support as required to patients referred by nursing staff

• Adhere to the practice prescribing formulary, local and national guidelines.

• Under supervision of the GPs in the practice , make professional, autonomous decisions in relation to presenting problems, whether self-referred or referred from other health care workers within the organisation;

• Record clear and contemporaneous IT based consultation notes to agreed standards;

• Deal with Practice notes, review and file patient lab. results and discuss with GP where necessary;

• Collect data for audit purposes.

• Supporting the practice staff and responding to requests for advice and assistance from the practice reception, secretarial and nursing staff.

• Attend prescribing, palliative care, clinical and practice meetings.

• You will be expected to take part in clinical meetings on a weekly basis

• Provide additional enhanced services to the practices that meet the needs of the practices’ patient population and maximise the income streams to the practice

• Undertake additional training where necessary to provide these enhanced services

• Awareness of and compliance with all relevant practice policies/guidelines, e.g. prescribing, confidentiality, data protection, health and safety, annual QOF Assessment of the Practice.

• Meet timescales/deadlines for audits and written returns to ensure that the Practice meets quality standards and receives the designated funding (e.g. Quarterly Enhance Services returns, annual QOF audit etc.)

• Take a share of test results and hospital referral letters

• A share of QOF administrative related reviews

• Participate in patient care planning

• Reviewing a share unplanned hospital admissions and A+E attendances

• Ensure the clinical computer system is kept up to date with accurate details recorded and amended

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