More than half of patients do not know what a 'physician associate' is despite NHS plans for them to deliver more care, a study reveals.

Doctors have opposed a mass rollout of PAs in GP surgeries and hospitals, warning they have insufficient training and put patients at risk.

More than 3,500 are already deployed in England, with plans to train 1,000 more each year to take the total up to 10,000 within 12 years.

The workers do not go to medical school but are usually expected to have either a science degree or a clinical qualification before they embark on a two-year postgraduate course to train to become a physician associate. 

Their duties include taking medical histories and conducting physical examinations.

However, some universities offering the course have admitted to accepting students with first degrees in the likes of geography, human resources and English literature.

The Ipsos poll of 1,127 people over the age of 16 found 57 per cent had either never heard of PAs or had heard of the role but knew nothing about it.

This is compared to 3 per cent who said they knew a great deal about PAs while 15 per cent said they knew a fair amount and 22 per cent said they knew a little.

PAs have been under scrutiny following high-profile mistakes, including the death of 30-year-old Emily Chesterton, who was misdiagnosed by a PA twice before eventually dying of a blood clot in 2022.

Leading GPs said it is important people have more information on physician associates, and stressed that it should be made clear to patients being treated by them that they are not doctors.

The British Medical Association (BMA) also warned that 'efforts to cut waiting lists must not come at the cost of patient safety'.

However, only a quarter of people surveyed said that, at every appointment in the past year, they have known the role of the healthcare professional they interacted with at their surgery, be it a GP, nurse or PA.

Some 23 per cent said they knew the role most of the time, 19 per cent some of the time, 11 per cent not many times and 4 per cent answered never.

The majority of people - 77 per cent - said they feel it is important for them to know the role of the member of staff they are dealing with.

After being given a brief description of the role, 40 per cent of people surveyed said the NHS should use funding to recruit and train more PAs to support GPs, so the wait for an appointment is shorter, even if a patient is less likely to see a family doctor.

This is compared with 30 per cent of people who agreed with the NHS recruiting a smaller number of GPs so that patients are more likely to speak to a doctor even if they have to wait longer.

Medical associate professions (MAP) roles, which includes PAs and anaesthesia associates (AAs), were introduced to the NHS workforce in the early 2000s to bolster access to care for patients.

Professor Phil Banfield, the chairman of the BMA council, added: 'It is incredibly concerning, but not at all surprising that so many people know so little about physician associates, even though they are working in GP practices and hospitals across the country.

'PAs are not equivalent to doctors. They must always work under close supervision from a doctor and should never be used in their place.

'We believe that PAs should see only those patients already triaged by a GP who has many years more training as efforts to cut waiting lists must not come at the cost of patient safety.

'It takes over 10 years of training to become a GP, PAs study for two years and although they have a role in the NHS, they must not be used as a substitute for qualified staff.'

Elsewhere, 62 per cent of those who responded to the survey said they found the availability of GP appointments for non-urgent conditions, which are usually booked in advance, to be poor.

More than half (55 per cent) said the availability of urgent appointments was also poor.

Dr Victoria Tzortziou-Brown, vice chairwoman of the Royal College of GPs, said: 'This poll shows how important it is that more information for patients is available about this role - and that it is made very clear to any patient who is being treated by a physician associate what their role is and that they are not a doctor; this is one of the college's red lines for PAs working in general practice.

'GPs are as frustrated as our patients when they struggle to access our care and services.

'Simply recruiting other healthcare professionals, including PAs, in general practice, must not be seen as the answer.'

An NHS spokesperson said: 'The NHS has always been clear about the role physician associates play in supporting clinical teams to provide high-quality care for patients - they are not replacements for doctors, but support with specific tasks they are trained to do, under supervision.' 

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: 'Physician associates have an important role to play but should always work with doctors, not replace them.

'This government will fix the NHS and ensure it has the staff it needs to be there for all of us when we need it.'