Skip to main content
The backdoor changes in ‘medical associate’ roles are intended to confuse and increase profits
The expansion of ‘physician associates’ is intended to blur the lines between doctors and non-doctors to make the NHS more profitable for big business. We must take every opportunity to end it, says CLAUDIA WEBBE MP
Hospital

SINCE warnings were first raised about the dangers of the government’s plans to expand the use, and in many cases the responsibilities, of “physician associates” and “anaesthetist associates,” the issue has begun to gain traction in the public mind.

At first, almost no politicians were coming out against the government’s planned backdoor legislation, by means of a scarcely scrutinised “statutory instrument,” changing the regulation of associate roles.

Under the new instrument, these will be regulated by the General Medical Council (GMC), the body that regulates doctors, even though these new roles do not have medical training.

Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
NO SAFE ZONES: Children walk by the destroyed house of journ
Features / 8 April 2025
8 April 2025
As Israel’s crimes escalate, Keir Starmer’s government must not subvert, block or ignore the investigation and prosecution of British citizens involved in acts of genocide, writes CLAUDIA WEBBE
DEFIANT: Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum
Features / 10 March 2025
10 March 2025
With trade wars backfiring, allies resisting military demands, and approval ratings plummeting, Trump’s dangerous pursuit of colonial ambitions threatens to end the ‘American century’ with catastrophic conflict, warns CLAUDIA WEBBE
DAMAGING AGENDA: Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall
Features / 24 February 2025
24 February 2025
Labour is deliberately continuing Tory policies that cost us £38 billion more than they save while driving illness rates higher — despite the evidence that previous sanctions doubled suicide attempts, writes CLAUDIA WEBBE
Wes Streeting
Features / 10 February 2025
10 February 2025
The Labour Party, once the proud architect of our health service, has become its undertaker, argues CLAUDIA WEBBE
Similar stories
11 - Basra
Opinion / 14 November 2024
14 November 2024
Genocide, racism and imperialism are in the Labour Party’s DNA, argues TOM SYKES
9gazawoman
Features / 27 August 2024
27 August 2024
The so-called peace deal trumpeted by Blinken is so weighted towards Israel’s political goals as to be a total non-starter, while at the same time the US continues to reject any meaningful arms embargo, writes CLAUDIA WEBBE
10 - school students
Features / 4 July 2024
4 July 2024
Labour’s refusal to restore council funding is a betrayal of the vulnerable, and particularly of Send children and young people, says independent candidate CLAUDIA WEBBE
11rosettes
Features / 7 June 2024
7 June 2024
Breaking the duopoly of British politics is not easy, but it is essential as working people are crying out for change, argues CLAUDIA WEBBE