To ask the Minister of Health how the current Physician Associate Masters course, with a significant number of those qualified unable to find work in the health service, fits within the overall workforce planning policy.

My Department leads long-term, regional workforce planning. The focus is strategic, including all of the HSC and the independent, voluntary, community and private sectors. The aim is to secure workforce supply across the entire HSC over a 5 – 10-year horizon. It is aligned to, and an enabler of, the Transformation agenda.

While concentrating on workforce supply, it also considers opportunities for workforce development. The expansion of multi-disciplinary working is a key part of this, with potential to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the health and social care workforce. As qualified healthcare professionals, Physician Associates can make an important contribution within that workforce.

Action 2.18 of my Department’s Workforce Strategy – “Planning for and introducing new roles” – includes an objective to develop a NI-wide strategy for the utilisation of Physician Associates across the HSC. My Department’s officials therefore continue to encourage employers across the HSC Trusts to secure posts for the graduates from the MSc in Physician Associate Studies degree programme at Ulster University, despite the very challenging financial situation faced by the HSC.