Supervision of Anaesthesia Practitioners (APs) and Physician’s Assistants -Anaesthesia (PA-A)

Further to previous guidance on this issue (Statement on Anaesthesia Practitioners (APs) (October 2007)), the Presidents of the RCoA and AAGBI would wish to stress that APs/PA-As have never been proposed by any authority involved as substitutes for medical staff and under no circumstances are to be considered as substitutes for Senior House Officers or their medical equivalents.

The AP/PA-A provides a high level of support to the anaesthetist, but must not work without immediate direct supervision of a senior medically qualified anaesthetist.

Further detailed guidance on supervision will be published in January 2008.

Judith Hulf, President, RCoA

David Whitaker, President, AAGBI

14 Dec 2007