RCP members vote to limit physician associate roles amid calls for president to resign

Members and fellows of the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) have voted overwhelmingly to limit the pace and scale of the rollout of physician associates (PAs)—a result that has exposed a rift between grassroot doctors and the college and led to calls for the resignation of its president.

On 13 March a fractious extraordinary general meeting (EGM) was held to debate matters relating to PAs. Members and fellows expressed concern that RCP had presented data from a members’ survey about PAs in a biased way.1

RCP hosts the Faculty of Physician Associates and receives membership and examination fees from PAs.

Voting on five motions closed on 20 March and the college said because of the importance of the ballot they had decided to release the results immediately, instead of 25 March as planned. Four motions covering PAs scope of practice, accountability, evaluation, and impact on training opportunities were passed with between 95.6% and 96.9% of the vote.

The controversy centred on the fifth motion which read, “In the initial request for the EGM, fellows called on RCP to pause the rollout of PA roles. A pause is clearly not feasible given recent legislation. This EGM therefore calls on RCP to limit the pace and scale of the rollout until the medicolegal matters of regulation, standards, and scope of practice are tackled.” The motion …