In the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, an anaesthesia associate is a healthcare worker who provides

anaesthesia Anesthesia is a state of controlled, temporary loss of sensation or awareness that is induced for medical or veterinary purposes. It may include some or all of analgesia (relief from or prevention of pain), paralysis (muscle relaxation), a ...

under the medical direction and supervision of a consultant

anaesthetist Anesthesiology, anaesthesiology, or anaesthesia is the medical specialty concerned with the total perioperative care of patients before, during and after surgery. It encompasses anesthesia, intensive care medicine, critical emergency medicine ...

(who is a medical doctor). Anaesthesia associates are not doctors themselves, but rather enter the role by completing a 27-month full-time training programme which leads to the award of a postgraduate diploma, or alternatively a 24-month training programme via

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

leading to a Masters degree. It is classed as a

medical associate profession In the United Kingdom, the medical associate professions are three novel professional groups of mid-level practitioners in the National Health Service who are not qualified in medicine, but who have specific education, training and team frameworks ...

. To be eligible, a candidate must have a previous degree in a biomedical or science subject, or recognised previous healthcare experience in another role. The role was introduced into the UK

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

in 2004, under the title of physicians' assistant (anaesthesia), abbreviated to PA(A). The current name for the role was introduced in July 2019. Despite the similarity of the name, the role was always distinct from physician assistant, which refers to a non-doctor practitioner who works in areas of medicine other than anaesthesia. At present, the role is not subject to statutory

regulation Regulation is the management of complex systems according to a set of rules and trends. In systems theory, these types of rules exist in various fields of biology and society, but the term has slightly different meanings according to context. Fo ...

, meaning it is not mandatory for anaesthesia associates to be registered with any

professional body A professional association (also called a professional body, professional organization, or professional society) usually seeks to advocacy, further a particular profession, the interests of individuals and organisations engaged in that professio ...

. In July 2019, the UK government announced its intention to request that the General Medical Council would in future regulate anaesthesia associates as a distinct profession.

References

Anesthesia Health care occupations {{Med-stub