Consultation on draft Scope of Practice for Anaesthesia Associates
16 September 2024
The Royal College of Anaesthetists will shortly be launching its consultation on a draft Scope of Practice for Anaesthesia Associates.
The Association of Anaesthetists has been represented on both the clinical reference group and the core writing group for this document. The Association board set out its wishes for the document at the outset of the process and its comments along the way have led to amendments reflected in the final draft version.
We recognise that there is a diversity of views on this topic. However, this new scope of practice offers the opportunity to bring order to a chaotic situation, to the benefit of Anaesthesia Associates (AAs), those who supervise them, and the specialty as a whole.
We believe that this draft Scope of Practice gives a solid foundation for AA practice to go forward into its post-regulation phase with a balanced scope and with patient safety at its heart.
It is now time for you to have your say. It is important that those who ultimately supervise AA practice to determine the scope of that practice.
We urge you to respond to the College consultation when it is launched. For those Association members who are not College members, we will be launching a parallel consultation for those members, and whose results will be submitted to the consultation process.
Dr Matt Davies
President
Dr Tim Meek
Honorary Secretary & President-elect
Nicky de Beer
Chief Executive