Association of Anaesthesia Associates

Recently it has been brought to the attention of the AAA that some job adverts for qualified Anaesthesia Associate jobs have stipulated HCPC or NMC registration as requirements for application.

It is the position of the AAA that applications for AA jobs should be open to any AAs who have completed the recognised Post Graduate Diploma in Physicians’ Assistant (Anaesthesia) studies, as this is the only nationally recognised qualification for AAs.  Qualified AAs do NOT need to have previously been a registered healthcare professional or hold current HCPC or NMC registration.

Approximately one third of the AA workforce have a science graduate background and will not have previously been a healthcare professional such as a Nurse or ODP before qualifying as an AA. This will effectively prevent AAs with a science graduate background from applying for these jobs. The AAA believe this to be unfair practice and should not be a condition of application in these adverts.