This week (11-15 November) we are celebrating our Advanced Clinical Practitioners (ACPs) as part of Advanced Practice week.
ACPs are highly educated healthcare professionals, trained to a high standard and working autonomously as part of a team of professionals.
They play a crucial role in delivering safe, personal and effective care, providing a unique combination of their base profession expertise and advanced clinical skills. ACPs can come from any background, including nursing, physiotherapy, paramedics, pharmacy and other allied health professional backgrounds.
To celebrate, some of our region’s ACPs have been talking about their roles:
Sarah Fisher, NHS South Yorkshire Professional Lead and Advanced Clinical Practitioner Queens Nurse said:
“As an experienced ACP and professional lead for NHS South Yorkshire I cannot stress the amazing impact ACPs are having on our patients and the contribution to the wider health service.
"The ACP is a multi-professional role and we are seeing them in more clinical areas than ever before. In an NHS facing escalating demand, the workforce needs to develop and modernise. ACPs are ideally placed to bring their experience and enthusiasm to a new and evolving role in helping patients across many different healthcare settings. A growing cohort of ACPs is vital for the NHS in the short- and long-term future.”
Cheryl Jenkinson, Advanced Practice programme support lead Nurse Consultant and Queens Nurse at Rotherham, Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust said:
“Being an ACP has brought so many new experiences into my practice. Alongside increasing my clinical skills, I am also working on a clinical trial looking at future medicines for our patients and teaching others in the multidisciplinary teams more.
"I have also been able to innovate a new health clinic for our patients too, giving access to an intervention that most would never normally have. I love the variation in practice being an ACP brings and that I get to learn new things every day!’"
Amy Lynch, Advanced Clinical Practitioner Therapeutic Radiographer in Breast Radiotherapy at Weston Park Hospital said:
“My day to day patient facing responsibilities include assessing and referring patients for radiotherapy, managing treatment side-effects through patient assessment and prescription of medication, and routine follow-up assessment. I work closely with Clinical Nurse Specialists and Oncology Consultants to ensure patients are well supported holistically to ensure good outcomes are achieved.
“Being embedded into the breast oncology team has allowed me to build on existing knowledge and experience and focus this on the breast tumour speciality. As an ACP I can ensure continuity and high-quality care for breast cancer patients throughout the radiotherapy pathway.”
Laura Latham, Advanced Clinical Practitioner Queens Nurse at FCMS (Yorkshire) providing Urgent and Emergency care across Doncaster through the Urgent Treatment Centre, an ACP visiting service and same day clinic appointments said:
"I am incredibly proud to introduce myself as an ACP. My passion lies in urgent primary care. I thrive on the diversity and unpredictability of each working day. I see both paediatric and adult patients with a wide range of presentations, each requiring quick, logical, and safe clinical decision-making.
"I am passionate about the continuous learning that advanced practice demands, knowing that this thirst for knowledge enables me to continue developing as a practitioner and providing the best possible evidence-based care for the patients I see."