In some parts of the world, most notably the U.K., Australia and South Africa some paramedics have evolved into a role of autonomous practitioners in their own right. In such cases, individual paramedics may function in much the same manner as Physician assistants or Nurse Practitioners, assessing patients and making their own diagnoses, clinical judgments, and treatment decisions. In all such cases, a scope of practice is predetermined for the role, and within that scope of practice all treatment decisions are made and care rendered at the discretion of the individual paramedic. In many cases, the scope of practice will focus more heavily on primary care, although providing a more comprehensive level of care, such as suturing, or the management of long-term conditions, such as diabetes or hypertension, than is normally permitted to the paramedic. In some jurisdictions, such practitioners even have the authority to both prescribe and dispense a limited and defined set of medications.