UEMO urges governments to pass legislation prohibiting Physician Assistants/Physician Associates from managing undifferentiated patients

UEMO expresses its extreme concern at the grave implications for patient care and safety arising from healthcare developments within Europe which threaten to destabilise the specialty of General Practice/Family Medicine placing doctors at professional jeopardy both legal and clinical. Such developments include those caused by significant deployment of Medical Associate Professionals.

Furthermore, proposals to train doctors by apprenticeship with the consequential impacts upon General Practice/Family Medicine present threats to patient safety and quality of care.

UEMO expects governments and medical regulators within Europe to publicly commit to the continuation of the minimum 5500-hour university and associated teaching hospital centred undergraduate training time and environment as the sole educational route to achievement of the primary registrable medical qualification.

To protect patient care and avoid patient harm, UEMO calls upon all governments to legislate prohibiting the initial assessment, unverified diagnosis, treatment, and discharge of the undifferentiated patient by Physician assistants/Physician Associates.

UEMO unequivocally supports the ethos that holistic cost-effective Family Medicine requires continuity of care primarily delivered by substantively appointed generalist professionals in (small and locally based) organisations acting as the first point of contact for patients, and which holds the patient’s lifetime record of care and draws in specialist skills as judged clinically necessary.

UEMO reminds and re-emphasises the thoroughly researched international literature that a robust, well resourced, expertly staffed General Practice/Family Medicine system is the foundation of cost-effective healthcare systems and a significant contributor to preventing overmedicalisation and under diagnosis.

UEMO reiterates its policy that the specialty of General Practice/Family Medicine be listed on the same single register of accredited specialists as all other specialties with parity of esteem and recognition as enjoyed by all other specialties.