Clinical Expertise: ACP professionals possess a deep understanding of their specific clinical area and apply this knowledge to assess, diagnose, and manage patient care.
Advancing Practice
Advanced Clinical Practice (ACP) refers to a level of healthcare practice where professionals, often nurses, physiotherapists, or allied health practitioners, work autonomously or collaboratively in more complex, specialised roles.
Advanced Clinical Practice often go beyond the traditional scope of care, combining advanced clinical skills with leadership, decision-making, and management abilities.
Key features of ACP include:
Autonomy: They can make high-level decisions regarding patient treatment and interventions, often without direct supervision.
Leadership and Education: ACPs play an integral role in mentoring, teaching, and leading other healthcare staff, contributing to the development of best practices within their teams.
Research and Evidence-Based Practice: They engage in research to enhance clinical practice, ensuring that patient care is rooted in the latest evidence and guidelines.
Specialised Roles: ACPs may work in fields such as acute care, chronic disease management, or specific specialties like orthopedics, cardiology, or pediatrics.
The Primary Care workforce is developing at a fast rate and we are able to support Primary Care employers with levy funding for the ACP MSc Apprenticeship pathway.
The closing dates for the ACP MSc Apprenticeship vary for different Universities, for further information please check on their websites.
Health Education England has established the Centre for Advancing Practice to oversee the workforce transformation of advanced level practice, by establishing and monitoring standards for education and training, accrediting advanced level programmes, supporting and recognising educational and training equivalence, and growing and embedding the advanced and consultant practice workforce.
The Centre will deliver this through key functions:
- Programme accreditation
- Recognition of education and training equivalence
- HEE credentials
- Workforce solutions
Further information regarding can be found on the link below:
NHS England Regional Faculties of Advancing Practice
Advancing Practice – Midlands – Advanced Practice
Each NHSE Region has a Faculty for Advancing Practice. The Midlands Faculty Lead is Dr Julian Barratt. You can Sign up to their stakeholder database if you would like to receive updates from the Faculty and for any other enquiries or to unsubscribe from the mailing list, please email them at england.apfac.midlands@nhs.net
Advancing Practice
In 2017 Health Education England (HEE) produced the HEE Multi Professional Framework for Advanced Clinical Practice in England.
This framework provides a clear definition and specifies the capabilities for clinicians using the 'advanced' title. This framework supports a level of practice and as such encompasses both those working in 'advanced specialist' and 'advanced generalist' roles. Clinicians who use the term ‘advanced’ in their title need to have Masters (MSc) level education and be able to evidence capability across the four pillars of advanced practice.
- Clinical Practice
- Leadership and Management
- Education
- Research
This requires that health and care professionals working at the level of advanced clinical practice will exercise autonomy and decision making in a context of complexity, uncertainty, and varying levels of risk, holding accountability for decisions made. Each clinician needs to work within their scope of competency.
Whilst the HEE framework defines advanced clinical practice as a level of practice, some areas of the country use the term Advanced Clinical Practitioner (ACP) as a role. This is the case in parts of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire and was driven by workforce needs.
If you require any further help/assistance, please contact ddlmc.thehubplus@nhs.net
University of Derby
University of Derby – MSc Advanced Clinical Practitioner Apprenticeship
Sheffield Hallam University
Sheffield Hallam University – Advanced Clinical Practice Apprenticeship
University of Nottingham
University of Nottingham - Advanced Clinical Practice Degree Apprenticeship
Manchester Metropolitan University
Manchester Metropolitan University – Advanced Clinical Practitioner (Masters)
Nottingham Trent University
Nottingham Trent University – Advanced Clinical Practitioner Apprenticeship
University of Sheffield
De Montfort University
De Montfort University Leicester - Advanced Clinical Practice Degree Apprenticeship