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New Framework launched to define the role of Advanced Clinical Practitioners in healthcare
16 November 2017
Health Education England (HEE), in partnership with NHS Improvement and NHS England, has today launched a new national framework that sets out a vision for the further development of Advanced Clinical Practitioners (ACPs).
The National Framework for Multi-Professional Advanced Clinical Practice includes, for the first time, a national definition and standards for the multi-professional advanced level of practice.
ACPs enhance capacity and capability within multi-professional teams by supporting existing and more established roles. They also help to improve clinical continuity, provide more patient-focused care, and help to provide safe, accessible and high-quality care for patients.
The framework provides national definition and framework of what Advanced Clinical Practice is and what the requirements for entry are. It will make sure that there is national consistency across the role and that advanced clinical practitioners, healthcare staff, employers and patients clearly understand the role. It will also provide current and future ACPs with guidance and principles that they should follow throughout their professional lives.
John Clark, Director and Dean of Education and Quality, Health Education England said:
The aim of the framework is to provide a clear and consistent approach to the development of advanced clinical practice across England. It achieves this by setting out recommendations for the development, implementation and evaluation of advanced clinical practice by defining the practitioner core capabilities and by identifying a recommended standard of education for advanced clinical practice. This will optimise the ways in which new and existing advanced clinical practice roles are developed and used to enhance care and improve health outcomes for local people.
HEE expects the new resource to facilitate transformation of the workforce by promoting team working, across traditional professional boundaries and support the delivery of excellent healthcare for local people 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.
The framework draws on existing frameworks of advanced clinical practice from across the United Kingdom and provides current and future healthcare professionals working at advanced clinical practice level with guidance and principles that they should follow throughout their professional lives.