#ACP
Advanced Practice
Advanced Practice (AP) is supported by the NHS Long Term Plan (2019), looking at increasing the numbers of AP’s to support the development of the multi-disciplinary team within Primary care.
Overview
Advanced clinical practice is delivered by experienced, registered health and social care practitioners. It is a level of practice characterised by a high degree of autonomy and complex decision making, enabling APs to manage clinical care in partnership with individuals, families and carers. This also includes the analyisis and synthesis of complex problems, identifying innovative solutions to enhance service user experience and improve outcomes. This is underpinned by a Master’s level award, or equivalent qualification and experience, that encompasses the four pillars of advanced practice; Clinical, Leadership & Management, Education & Research, with demonstration of core capabilities alongside specific clinical competence around Primary Care.
Historically this role has been predominately been nurses, but Advanced Clinical Practitioners now come from a range of clinical backgrounds. This includes:
- Nurses
- Pharmacists
- Paramedics
- Physiotherapists
- Occupational Therapists
- Dietitians
- Podiatrists
There are other Allied Health Professionals who have AP roles within secondary care, however these roles are not yet within the primary care system.
News
HEE NW Faculty for Advancing Practice is still accepting late Expression of Interest for Primary Care. However this has a deadline of Wednesday 15th June 2022 at 12 Noon. This is to prioritise funding for Autumn intakes.
14/03/2022
Faculty and the Centre for Advancing Practice Updates
22/02/2022
Expressions of Interest are now closed for the 2022/2023 funding
An introduction to Advanced Clinical Practice – HEE
Advanced Practice in primary care – HEE
Apprenticeships in Advanced Clinical Practice
Regional Faculty for Advancing Practice – North West – Advanced Practice
Workplace Supervision for Advanced Clinical Practice
Advancing Practice in Primary and Community Care North West Virtual Conference 2020
NW Advanced Practice Webinar – Pharmacy
NW Advanced Practice Webinar – Primary Care and Apprenticeships
Advanced Clinical Practice Survey
Continuing Professional Development Advanced Practitioner Survey
Health Education England 22/23 Advancing Practice Funding Survey
The Centre for Advancing Practice was established by Health Education England in 2020 this is to oversee the workforce transformation of Advanced Level Practice by;
- Establishing and monitoring standards for education and training
- Support and recognise education and training equivalence
- Growing and embedding the advanced and consultant practice workforce.
We have recently had a scoping survey out in GM to look at what is required for practitioners to be able to go onto the Directory of Advanced Practice which the centre will hold.
A scoping survey has recently been shared across the North West to identify primary care practitioners working at an advanced level. Responses will be reviewed and opportunities signposted to support colleagues in registering on the National Centre Directory of Advanced Practice
Below you will find answers to frequently asked questions on advanced practice and the Centre for Advancing Practice that HEE is establishing to accredit advanced practice education and training programmes. You will also find answers to frequently asked questions on programme accreditation.
We will be reviewing and adding to these FAQs over time and if you have a question that is not addressed below please let us know via email LINK OUR EMAIL! and we will endeavour to answer and add to the list.
What are Advanced Practitioners?
Advanced practitioners are experienced clinicians who demonstrate significant expertise in their area of practice. In most cases, they will also be expected to provide leadership, mentoring and wider clinical judgment to a multi-disciplinary team. There are lots of jobs with this title, but, until now, there hasn’t necessarily been consistency across the country on what the job entails.
So, HEE’s Centre for Advancing Practice will do two things:
- set agreed national training standards across England for advanced level practice
- kitemark training courses for advanced level practice
Which professions can be Advanced Practitioners?
Certain health and care professionals including nurses, pharmacists, radiographers, dieticians, paramedics, art therapists, and healthcare scientists can become advanced practitioners, providing they meet the requirements outlined in the multi-professional framework for advanced clinical practice in England.
Individuals from other professional groups, such as non-statutorily registered professions, are seeking to become recognised as advanced practitioners. Health Education England is working with them to see how this might be possible.
Why are Advanced Practitioners good for patients?
Patients often tell the health service that they want a quicker, more responsive service that treats them as an individual, not as a combination of different health conditions. They also want different parts of the health service to work better together.
Advanced practitioners are highly skilled in their chosen profession and are also trained to think about a person’s total health needs and to work with multiple different professionals. Advanced practitioners have responsibilities that often exceed those of their professional peers and take a lead in the overall care and decision making in the care pathway analysis, using critical thinking skills and making judgments based on accrued knowledge and contemporary research. There are already many examples of advanced practitioners working in this way
Why does the NHS need Advanced Practitioners?
Advanced Practitioners are at the heart of the Long-Term Plan and People Plan which will deliver more treatments in multi-disciplinary community teams with a focus on personalised care and prevention.
Advanced practitioners will have the leadership, education and research training to make the clinical team deliver better, more responsive care for patients and the population. They have advanced training in clinical techniques and are often able to step in to deliver treatments and advice that were previously the domain of particular professionals, such as prescribing.
Why does the NHS need Advanced Practitioners?
Advanced practitioners are at the heart of the Long-Term Plan and People Plan which will deliver more treatments in multi-disciplinary community teams with a focus on personalised care and prevention.
Advanced practitioners will have the leadership, education and research training to make the clinical team deliver better, more responsive care for patients and the population. They have advanced training in clinical techniques and are often able to step in to deliver treatments and advice that were previously solely the domain of one professional, such as prescribing.
Why is HEE doing this instead of the individual regulators, employers and professional bodies?
HEE’s focus is the health workforce. Our vision is to support the delivery of excellent healthcare and health improvement to the patients and public of England by ensuring that the workforce of today and tomorrow has the right numbers, skills, values and behaviours, at the right time and in the right place.
HEE has the influence, objectivity and impartiality to bring together the many interested parties to ensure that advanced level practice is underpinned by a rigorous quality assurance system.
The Advanced Practice workforce is multi-professional, so all those professional bodies need to work together to make a quality assurance system for advanced practice education work effectively. However, the system also needs a single ‘broker’ to ensure that it is fit for purpose for employers, for all professions and, primarily, for patients. HEE has the remit, the governance and the national positioning to take on this role.
Advanced Practitioners have existed for a long time. Why do we need a quality-assurance centre?
Healthcare is changing. The way that health practitioners want to work with patients is changing. And yet, training and registration is often based on old models. HEE is supporting health educators, trainers, regulators and professional bodies to train people for the 21st century and recognise people for the full set of skills that they have and need to deliver high-quality patient care.
Whether you are, for example, a registered nurse, occupational therapist or pharmacist, the advanced level practice qualifications from an accredited programme will show that you have the skills necessary to work in new ways in multi-disciplinary teams and in new settings. The Centre for Advancing Practice will set standards for training and education and accredit education programmes.
Who are Advanced Practitioners registered with?
This is an important question. Most professions have a regulator that regulates clinicians and is partially responsible for ‘fitness to practise’ issues. For example, a pharmacist can only practise if they are registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council. This will not change. However, there is a growing need for people who can operate at an advanced level, and for the qualifications of those individuals to be recognised so that employers know how to employ them and roster them into their teams. The Centre intends to operate several ways by which individual’s knowledge and understanding can be recognised.
The Centre for Advancing Practice is opening up their ePortfolio route to apply for Advanced Practice. The application process opens on 13 December 2021.
The ePortfolio route opens on the 13 Dec and will run until the 14th Jan, when the applications will be reviewed. At the moment there are 3000 places for the whole of England. A webinar was held on 6th December, you can view it here.
This is for those without an MSc in Advanced Practice. You need to map your competencies and evidence to the multi profession framework for advanced practice, and there is potential for a 30 credit module with the University overseeing this process. The evidence needs to be prescribed using level 7 writing.
If you have an MSc in Advanced Practice, from 2017 onwards, the Universities are looking at accreditation. For those with an Advanced Practice pre-2017, there is potential for the University to apply for a legacy program. The ePortfolio is not something that can be done instead of a MSc. There are a list of FAQ on the Advanced Practice Website
Advanced Clinical Practice Demand-Led process for 22/23 cohorts
The Faculty for Advanced Practice across the North West are pleased to announce they will soon be welcoming expression of interests for educational training funding for MSc Advanced Clinical Practice. A further email with a link to submit the expression of interest form will be circulated on Tuesday 4th January 2022. Organisations will have until Monday 14th February 2022 to submit
Please find listed below supporting documentation that supports organisations for this process:
- 2022/23 Expression of Interest flow chart
- HEE NW ACP Readiness Checklist for Primary Care
- Principles for the demand, assessment, and commissioning of Multi-professional Advancing Practice in the North West of England (2022/23)
If you require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact:
Greater Manchester Training Hub [email protected]
Faculty for Advancing Practice [email protected]
Development
Health Education England provides funded commissions to support the ongoing development of the Advanced Practice workforce. This funding is to enable workforce transformation by ensuring expansion of the multi-disciplinary team to meet the needs of local populations. Advanced Practice programmes are available via a funded or apprenticeship route. See North West providers listed below:
- Edge Hill University
- Liverpool John Moores University
- Manchester Metropolitan University - Advanced Clinical Practitioner Degree Apprenticeship
- Manchester Metropolitan University - Advanced Clinical Practice in Primary Care
- University of Bolton
- University of Chester
- University of Cumbria
- University of Manchester
- University of Salford
If you are interested in accessing this funding, please complete this short survey.
Four Pillars of Advanced Practice
The framework requires professionals working at the level of advanced clinical practice to have the knowledge, skills and behaviours relevant to the role. The core capabilities across the 4 pillars
- Decision making/ clinical judgement and problem solving
- Critical thinking, analytical skills including critical reflection.
- Managing complexity,
- Assessment, diagnosis, referral and discharge
- Higher levels of autonomy
- Assessing and managing risk
- Non-medical prescribing in line with legislation
Educational Opportunities
The following can be found on the E-Learning for Health website: https://www.e-lfh.org.uk/
- Dermatology
- Dementia
- DNACPR resources
- Domestic Violence and abuse
- Eating disorder training
- Frailty
- General Practice 2012 Curriculum
- Geriatric Medicine
- Long Covid
- Mental Capacity Act
- Mental health awareness GP’s
- MSK IN Primary care
- Pharmacy in Primary care
- Safe prescribing
- Sexual and reproductive health
External Links
- Principles of teaching and learning
- Supporting others to develop knowledge and skills
- Promotion of learning/ creation of learning environment
- Patients/ carer teaching/education
- Developing education materials
- Teaching, mentoring, coaching.
The following can be found on the E-Learning for Health website: https://www.e-lfh.org.uk/
- Educator Training Resources
- Pharmacy practice and educational supervisor training
- SSSA UPDATE
- Supervision for multi professional teams
- Supporting AHP students
- Leading innovation and managing change include service development
- Developing care for change
- Team development
- Networking
The following can be found on the E-Learning for Health website: https://www.e-lfh.org.uk/
- Leadership for Clinicians- Clinical Leadership
- Leadership foundations
- Leading change, adding value
- Management and leadership skills
www.leadershipacademy.nhs.uk/programmes/
- Edward Jenner Programme
- Mary Seacole
- Rosalind Franklin
- Elisabeth Garrett Anderson
- Nye Bevan
- Stepping up programme
- Ability to access research/ use information systems
- Critical appraisal. Evaluation skills
- Involvement in research
- Involvement in audit and service evaluation
- Ability to implement research finding into practices
- Conference presentations
- National Quality Improvement (Including Clinical Audit) Network
- Healthcare Quality Improvement partnership – Clinical Audit awareness week 13-17 June
- Clinical Audit support centre
- Advanced Clinical Audit
- Train the trainer in clinical audit
- Root cause Analysis masterclass
- Significant event audit masterclass
- Healthcare Quality Quest
- Clinical Governance, Audit, QI, Risk Management.
Resources
For Advanced Clinical Practice (Nurses) working in general practice/ Primary care in England. While initially aimed a nurses, this document can be used to support any discipline