Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department are taking to help ensure that GPs are not replaced with Physician Associates.

We are clear that physician assistants, still legally known as physician associates, are there to support doctors, not replace them. Professor Leng’s recent review findings were clear that, with changes in line with its recommendations, there remains a place for these roles as supportive, complementary members of medical teams.

We hugely value the critical role that general practitioners (GPs) play and are committed to addressing the issues they face. Since October 2024 we have funded primary care networks with an additional £160 million to recruit recently qualified GPs through the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme. Over 2,900 individual GPs have now been recruited, preventing them graduating into unemployment. This measure was introduced in response to feedback from the profession and to help solve an immediate issue of GP unemployment.