Advanced Clinical Practice

What is Advanced Clinical Practice (ACP)? 

Advanced level practice is not a specific role; it includes all practitioners who have progressed to an advanced level of practice through further education and training.  

Health Education England (HEE) Multi-professional framework for advanced clinical practice in England  (HEE England 2017 ) provides a clear definition of advanced practice: 

‘Advanced clinical practice is delivered by experienced, registered health and care practitioners. It is a level of practice characterised by a high degree of autonomy and complex decision making.  

This is underpinned by a master’s level award or equivalent that encompasses the four pillars of: Clinical practice, Leadership & management, Education, and Research. Together with the demonstration of core capabilities and area specific clinical competence. 

Advanced clinical practice embodies the ability to manage clinical care in partnership with individuals, families and carers. It includes the analysis and synthesis of complex problems across a range of settings, enabling innovative solutions to enhance people’s experience and improve outcomes.

All health and care professionals in the East of England working at the level of advanced practice should have developed their skills and knowledge to enable them to meet the minimum capabilities and competencies across all 4 pillars of advanced practice as outlined in the Multi-professional framework for advanced clinical practice in England  

What can an ACP do in Primary Care?

• Manage undifferentiated, undiagnosed conditions with agreed scope of practice  
• Manage medical complexity within an agreed scope of practice  
• Prescribe any medicine for any condition within their competence/scope of practice (including some controlled medicines) provided they have successfully completed an Independent Prescribing qualification 
• Undertake leadership roles within the practice  
• Lead education and training in their area of expertise 
• Enhance the learning environment broadening the skill set of team members 
• Increase supervisor capacity: ACPs can take on a variety of supervisor’s roles. 
• Lead quality improvement initiatives and research within practice or across network 
• Enable, facilitate and support change across care pathways and traditional boundaries 

Training and Development Pathways to Advanced Practice 

 

Supervision of advanced practice

HEE Centre for Advancing Practice Resources for Supervision (minimum standards) provides new guidance for supervisors, managers, employers, and trainee advanced practitioners and outlines the expected standards for supervision. 

The minimum standards for Advanced Clinical Practice supervision are:

• To have a named co-ordinating educational supervisor (who ideally will have undertaken Tier 3 supervision training)
• To have access to associate workplace supervisors
• To have a minimum of 1 hour(s) supervision per week, of which 1 in 4 should be with your named co-ordinating educational supervisor

Please see below resources for more information:

• Advanced Practice Workplace Supervision
• Employer’s Advanced Practice Supervision Action Plan
• Supervision Readiness Checklist

HEE have published further guidance and supporting videos on supervision: click here

Further information 

If you would like to discuss advanced practice or a potential application, please contact the Suffolk and North East Essex Training Hub where your details will be passed to our Advanced Clinical Practice leads: [email protected]