The marketing manager issues a warning to the GP practice over the definition of PA

GP has received a slap in the face from the UK’s advertising regulator for its definition of allied health practitioners (PAs).

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has told Pulse it has issued Churchfields Surgery with a ‘notice of advice’ based on claims the practice made about the ‘training and qualifications’ of PAs.

This warning has prompted Midlands practice to ‘avoid unnecessary association’ of PAs with GPs and to ensure that all claims made in their advertisements are correct.

Churchfields Surgery senior partner Dr David Law told Pulse that they will be ‘upgrading’ their website in line with advice from the ASA, in order to ‘improve any excesses’ they may have which did.

According to its website, the practice currently has three PAs, one of whom is a partner.

A page on the website detailing the role of medical staff, dated March 2022, says ‘to contact one of the doctors. [their PAs] they should feel like care from a Doctor’.

It also criticized the Government’s delay in giving PAs the right to sign orders or order x-rays, saying it was their ‘continuing hope that this part of the regulations would be amended’.

On PA courses, the Churchfields website says: ‘Here in the UK, the Physician Associate program accepts students with a science degree (such as “Biomedical Sciences”) and offers an intensive year-long program two to prepare them for the NHS. employees.

‘Medical Societies train and are assessed within the wider medical curriculum and must pass rigorous final examinations to become qualified.’

PAs are described on one page of the practice’s website as ‘allied health care professionals with a general medical education’.

The ASA told Pulse that it had received a ‘complaint’ about claims made on the operator’s website about pre-practice training for PAs.

A spokesman for the advertising agency continued: ‘We have sent Churchfields doctors an Advisory Notice, reminding them to ensure that all claims in their adverts are correct, and to avoid mixing jobs, training and work. PAs and GPs unnecessarily. Therefore, we consider the matter closed.’

An advisory notice is used when the regulator considers there are ‘potential problems with advertising’ but does not consider the issues to be ‘complex or significant’ to warrant a ‘full formal investigation’ .

‘We do not expect a response from the advertiser when we send the Advisory Notice, but we do expect them to take it seriously and follow our rules carefully going forward,’ the ASA added.

In response, senior operating partner Dr Law confirmed to Pulse that they had received a warning asking them to ‘review’ how PAs are described on the website.

He continued: “We welcome their advice because we are fully committed to being open with our patients, and any other users of the site, about the clinical staff who are part of the ts our process.

‘Thanks to the feedback, we will continue to adjust our website to improve any details we may have made.

‘Our desire is to provide high quality and a great experience for our patients and we believe this is best achieved with a diverse clinical staff.’

Earlier this week, the BMA announced it would fund a legal case by Anesthetists United challenging the GMC over its failure to “differentiate properly” between qualified doctors and PAs.

And the RCGP, which recently voted to completely oppose any role for PAs within GP practices, yesterday issued guidance limiting the scope of practice for those already in at work.

It said that while the RCGP cannot use the guidance, as this is a ‘decision’ to employ doctors – it may be taken into account’ by NHS Resolution and medical safety agencies in cases of medical negligence.

Last week, the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges called on the health secretary to launch an ‘urgent review’ into the safety and effectiveness of the PA role in the NHS.