As you may already know, last week the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) held an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) to discuss concerns their members and fellows expressed on PAs as a result of the BMA smear campaign. Disappointingly, as announced yesterday, all motions were passed, including the 5th motion regarding caution in the pace and scale of PA roll-out. 

Your scope and professional standards are not defined by the BMA and their scope document has been widely acknowledged to be inappropriate and outwardly rejected by NHSE. Subsequently, the Department of Health and Social Care has responded to an important question put forward to them, after discussions with UMAPs, further reinforcing the illegitimacy of the BMAs document.  

The below documents from the FPA, GMC, and the Department of Health, should be the only scope and standards reference you or your employer’s use. We encourage you to share these documents, and any other information in this letter you feel may be of benefit, with your employer.  

1. Good Medical Practice 
2. Competence and Curriculum Framework 
3. Physician associate curriculum 
4. Code of conduct for physician associates 
5. Physician associate title and introduction guidance for PAs, supervisors, employers and organisations 
6. Physician associate and anaesthesia associate generic and shared learning outcomes 

Today, we have discussed the issue of the scope of practice document with both legal consult and ACAS. It is understood that should the scope of practice be used by an employer, despite it being universally graded as not an authorised scope document, that this could constitute redundancy, unfair dismissal and or a breach of contract depending on the specifics of the case.

With this in mind, please see the following documentation supplied by ACAS to familiarise yourself with the processes involved below:

1. Contract Variation (changing an employment contract) 
2. Dismissals 
3. Employment Tribunal time limits – Acas webpage 
4. Redundancy 

We will reiterate our position for complete transparency for everyone involved below: 

“UMAPs deems that it is inappropriate for a union, that does not represent MAPs, to unilaterally redefine and attempt to impose a scope of practice on another profession, and as such the BMA are acting outside of their remit. This document was produced without stakeholder engagement or peer review. This is unprofessional and represents a wider problem within the BMA and we urge them to reflect on this.” 

We would encourage all members who face employers considering utilising this unauthorised scope of practice, to forward this email to them directly. 

For all employers who have carried out, or continue to inflict a detriment on our members, please know that we are currently gearing to support and empower all members in taking all actions of recourse available to them. 

UMAPs is here to advise and support its founding members through this process. Please do not hesitate to get in contact if you are experiencing any related challenges at work. If you are aware of any non-member colleagues, currently experiencing difficulty then please refer them to UMAPs for support.

Yours sincerely,

The UMAPs Caretaker Council 
UMAPs – United Medical Associate Professionals