Starting an Advanced Clinical Practitioner Team
Historically many trusts have struggled with the inception of an ACP team as there are very few practitioners working at the level required to make a meaningful impact in the department from the get go.We can help convert those staff that have less belief in non-medical practitioners by role modelling with feet on the ground in the Emergency Department. To that end many trusts have trialled ADPRAC ACPs then gone on to offer more locum work and then in time start their own ACP teams.
Pete one of the Clinical Directors of ADPRAC was heavily involved in the development of the national RCEM curriculum for ACPs. He has been asked to speak internationally on advanced practice and has several publications that examine that which can be achieved by non-medical practitioners in Emergency Departments. Both Greg and Pete are happy to provide consultancy advice to smooth the transition of staff into Advanced Clinical Practitioners. It’s sadly not as simple as just teaching nurses and paramedics more clinical skills because staff need to be coached into becoming clinical decision makers.
Many Trusts have embraced the skills that our ACPs/ENPs have to help with the clinical demands of a modern Emergency Department. It’s clear that on occasions junior doctors are used as locums where realistically an ACP with many more years of experience within Emergency Care may give a greater output. Equally, the quality of locums in majors can be variable which is true of any agency member of staff, however, at APDRAC we make sure that the non-medical clinician supplied has the right skills and experience to really make a difference.
To begin with in most trusts we are happy to fill junior doctor shortfalls, but most commonly the employing trust tends to employ our Senior ACPs on MG gaps of the rota do long as there is a Consultant on the shop floor.
We now have ACPs that work within Acute Medicine they are able to clerk patients in AMU prior to a sensible presentation to the Acute Med Consultant!! They also can work as clinicians within ambulatory care units alongside senior medical staff.
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