By Cecilia Adamou Doctors have warned that plans to increase the use of physician associates in the NHS could lead to a two-tier healthcare system and put vulnerable lives at risk. They fear patients’ access to fully qualified GPs could be hampered by the changes – unless they go private. Physician associates, or PAs, do not attend medical school, instead completing only a two-year postgraduate course. They were intended to help doctors with everyday tasks, working under supervision. But doctors told us PAs increasingly give medical advice and treatment. The alert follows the death in 2022 o…