Physician associates regulated by the Medical Council

The stated rationale

Access to care. The government's Cabinet paper on HPCA reform says "patch protection" makes new professions, like physician associates, "less available and useful".

What changed

Physician associates are now regulated under the HPCA Act by the Medical Council, with two scopes of practice. In the provisional scope, the Council approves each position, primary supervisor and supervision plan. In the general scope, the employer approves supervision by a vocationally registered doctor. In both, supervision must be on site.

Why it matters

New Zealand is regulating the role while the UK tightens its own rules after the Leng review. New Zealand already requires an approved primary supervisor and on-site supervision. Whether it also limits physician associates seeing undifferentiated patients, as the UK’s Leng review recommended, is the question to watch. See the UK tracker.

Sources

1. Cabinet paper: Policy approval for amendments to the HPCA Act
2. HC Online: New Zealand to recognise physician associates as regulated profession (30 April 2025)
3. NZ Gazette: Scopes of practice notice
4. Scoop: Medical Council begins regulating physician associates
5. NZRDA: Physician associates campaign

Further reading