CAMPAIGNERS from the Merseyside Pensioners Association protested against the Americanisation of the NHS and the government’s dangerous substitution of doctors with physician assistants today.

Earlier this month, the Royal College of Physicians held an extraordinary general meeting — only the third in the college’s 500-year history — on the role of physician associates (PAs).

Formerly known as physician assistants, they are trained for two years to perform a number of day-to-day tasks in GP surgeries and hospitals.