\n<\/p>\n
Independent review finds that PAs play positive role in clinical sites, but lack of national scope of practice leads to \u2018considerable variability\u2019 in their responsibilities<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
A lack of clarity around the role and function of physician associates (PAs) in Irish healthcare has resulted in \u2018avoidable risk\u2019, an independent review has found.<\/p>\n
The report found that, in the small number of clinical teams here who have PAs, feedback on their contribution was positive.<\/p>\n
\u201cPAs are consistently described as providing valuable continuity, coordination and organisational support within consultant-led teams, particularly in environments characterised by high NCHD rotation, fragmented pathways, and operational complexity,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n
\u201cTheir permanent presence contributes to safer care through consistent documentation, reliable follow-up processes, and support for multidisciplinary communication, while freeing NCHDs to focus on training and clinical decision-making.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, the PA role in Ireland has \u2018evolved without a clear, nationally agreed definition of its purpose, scope of practice, or governance framework\u2019. As a result, the report said that there was \u2018considerable variability\u2019 across hospitals in the work PAs carried out, with \u2018uncertainty for clinicians and PAs, and avoidable risk\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the absence of such clarity, the future development or expansion of the PA role cannot be safely supported,\u201d the review said.<\/p>\n
Physician associates \u2013 also known as physician assistants \u2013 are a relatively new cohort of workers in Irish healthcare, with just 30 PAs working in Irish public hospitals.<\/p>\n
In response to concerns over the work and responsibilities of the PA \u2013 including fears by the IMO that they may eventually be used as substitutes for NCHDs on hospital rosters \u2013\u00a0 last year the HSE commissioned an independent review to examine their role within the Irish public healthcare system, with Leo Kearns appointed as its lead reviewer.<\/p>\n
The review concluded that the primary purpose of the PA role in Ireland is \u2018to assist the medical team in its provision of care to patients, by supporting the organisation, coordination and continuity of medical care, and by carrying out defined clinical tasks and procedures under a medical practitioner\u2019s supervision or oversight\u2019.<\/p>\n
It emphasised that the PA is not a substitute for a doctor and should not be rostered as such. It called for a core PA scope of practice, an extended scope of practice that includes higher-risk activities that need more extensive training, and an exclusions list which details that must not be delegated to PAs due to \u2018legal restriction, required medical expertise, or patient safety consideration\u2019. These would include diagnosis, prescribing medications, and ordering ionising radiation.<\/p>\n
Each PA should have a consultant supervisor, while there should be national oversight to ensure consistent implementation of the PA\u2019s function.<\/p>\n
The review recommends that initial deployment be primarily within the medical and surgical functions of acute hospitals, where the role has demonstrated value and governance structures can be consistently applied.<\/p>\n
\u201cFuture expansion may occur following national approval and evidence of sustained governance effectiveness,\u201d the report added.<\/p>\n
Publishing the review, the HSE said it will be \u2018actively working\u2019 with clinical leaders, professional bodies, and stakeholders to implement its recommendations.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis will provide PAs with a defined professional framework, ensuring clarity in scope of practice and clinical governance. This will enable PAs to continue to support the delivery of safe, high-quality patient care, aligned with the HSE\u2019s commitment to person-centred care and continuous improvement,\u201d a spokesperson said.<\/p>\n
Last night the Minister for Health welcomed the publication, with a spokesperson for her department saying: \u201cIt is essential that patient safety is prioritised in the implementation of any healthcare role. The HSE is moving to an implementation phase focused on strengthening governance, role clarity and national consistency.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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Independent review finds that PAs play positive role in clinical sites, but lack of national scope of practice leads to \u2018considerable variability\u2019 in their responsibilities A lack of clarity around the role and function of physician associates (PAs) in Irish healthcare has resulted in \u2018avoidable risk\u2019, an independent review has found. The report found that, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":92853,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_daextam_enable_autolinks":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-92852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-1311932553-staff-620.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92852"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92852\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}