Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, following the announcement by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care regarding the statutory regulation of Physician Associates and Physician Assistants in anaesthesia on 12 October, when they intend to commence the legislative process to introduce such regulation.

Following the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care’s announcement on 12 October 2018 that the Department plans to introduce statutory regulation for Physician Associates and Physicians’ Assistants (Anaesthesia), officials have started work to develop a suitable underpinning legislative framework.

Bringing non-regulated healthcare professions into statutory regulation is typically done using Section 60 of the Health Act 1999. This process takes around 18 to 24 months to complete, subject to Parliamentary time.