The physician associate (PA) union has welcomed the opportunity to directly contest the Leng Review in court, after its bid to pause changes to the PA role was rejected by the High Court last week.
United Medical Associate Professionals (UMAPs) had sought an interim injunction to prevent NHS England from issuing instructions to organisations about implementing recommendations in the Leng Review.
The review, commissioned to assess the safety and effectiveness of PAs, recommended renaming the role to ‘assistant’, restricting PAs from seeing patients outside set protocols, and requiring at least two years’ training in secondary care before they could work in general practice.
Following the review’s publication last month, the Government accepted the recommendations in full and instructed NHS England to implement the changes as quickly as possible.
In response, UMAPs submitted a judicial review claim against NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and sought an injunction to stop NHS England from making changes while the judicial review is ongoing.
Although the request was rejected by Mr Justice Dove at the Royal Courts of Justice last Friday, UMAPs said the outcome was ‘a welcome development’.
‘In his summary remarks, Mr Justice Dove made clear that injunctive relief could not be granted without examining the lawfulness of the Leng Review itself,’ said the union in a statement on the judgement.
UMAPs said it would now add Professor Leng as a defendant in its judicial review case.
‘This is a welcome development that will allow us to directly challenge the legality of the Leng Review itself and finally deal with this matter in its entirety,’ said UMAPs.
The union reiterated its warning that organisations should wait for the judicial review to conclude before implementing changes to the PA role.
‘Any employer that hastily presses ahead with implementing the recommendations while the judicial review is pending will face legal action from UMAPs,’ it said.
The BMA has advised GP practices to review PA contracts to determine whether they need to be changed in light of the review.
The doctor’s union has also threatened separate legal action against the GMC over its use of the term ‘medical professionals’ for both PAs and doctors.
A DHSC spokesperson said the review had been conducted to ensure patient safety, clarity over professional roles and confidence in the NHS, and said Professor Leng had delivered a ‘comprehensive report’.
NHS England has been approached for comment.
A version of this story was first published on our sister title Pulse.
