Doctors fear 2-tier GP plan

Rise in 'helpers' with fewer skills 'is risk to safety'

- CECILIA APAMOU

DOCTORS have warned that plans to increase the use of physician associates in the NHS could lead to a two-tier healthcare system and put vulnerable lives at risk.

They fear patients' access to fully qualified GPs could be hampered by the changes - unless they go private.

Physician associates, or PAs, do not attend medical school, instead completing only a two-year postgraduate course.

They were intended to help doctors with everyday tasks, working under supervision.

But doctors told us PAs increasingly give medical advice and treatment.