The role of physician associates was among topics debated at Unison's annual health conference in Liverpool this week.

The union says some healthcare organisations are stoking fears over patient safety. Their demands to end recruitment of new physician associates and to remove them from GP surgeries are unjustified, says Unison.

The union says these criticisms are symptomatic of the wider challenges facing the NHS including chronic underfunding, overstretched staff and soaring demand on services.

Physician associates are being disproportionately targeted when the bigger issue is staffing shortages and ensuring all NHS workers get the right support and supervision, says the union.

The General Medical Council has started registering physician and anaesthesia associates and this will be completed by December 2026. At that point registration becomes a statutory requirement for these roles, in a move expected to provide additional assurance for patients.

The union is urging ministers to clarify as a matter of urgency the remit of physician and anaesthesia associates. Unison is also calling for an end to debates about their existence, which have undermined public confidence and detracted from patient care.

Unison head of health, Helga Pile, said: 'Scapegoating physician associates is a dangerous distraction from issues in the NHS that desperately need resolving. Years of neglect have left services overstretched, making it difficult to maintain consistently safe and high-quality patient care.

'Physician associates have a wealth of knowledge and experience. Losing them now would be a huge blow to a service that already faces a massive recruitment and retention crisis.

'Constant attacks are damaging wider healthcare teams and patients at a time when the NHS needs all the help it can get. The focus must be on all NHS staff working together as a team to boost patient care and tackle lengthy waiting lists.'

In January, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care established an independent review of the physician associate and anaesthesia associate professions, to agree recommendations for the future. The Leng Review will consider the safety of the roles and their contribution to multidisciplinary healthcare teams.