Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the number of physician associates employed in the NHS in (a) Hertfordshire and (b) England.

This information is not held centrally by the Department.

As at 3 June 2015, there are 152 qualified physician associates (PAs) registered on the Physician Associate Voluntary Register. This voluntary register does not provide information on whether any of these PAs are currently employed in the National Health Service.

For 2015-16, Health Education England will commission 205 PA training posts, representing an increase of 754% upon last year. With a two year training programme, successful trainees will become available for employment in 2017-18.