Midlands Faculty for Advancing Practice – Update Bulletin December 2024

End of Year Message from the Faculty

Its been another busy year for the Faculty, following the Merge of Health Education England, NHS Digital and NHS England into our new organisation and restructure. We are now fully embedded in the NHS England Workforce, Training and Education Directorate. Forming strong and purposeful links with the Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Teams. We are excited to see where these collaborations will take us.  

We have continued to have lots of engagement across the region with our stakeholders including Higher Education Institution (HEI) colleagues, organisations and employers. All working together to support workforce development of Advancing Practice. Trainee support and allocating resources to ensure governance and quality around this remain a top priority for the Faculty.

Our Education Forums have enabled us to host a variety of expert speakers from across the region to speak on a range of topics. These have been great for education and training. Alongside offering great networking opportunities for those working in primary and urgent care. We welcome anybody who feels the sessions will enhance their clinical practice so do keep an eye out for the upcoming forums as we plan to continue these in 2025.  

We have been able to facilitate the recently formed Educator Network meetings,  which has offered opportunities to share best practice and provide peer support for our enthusiastic advanced practice educators.  2025 will hopefully see similar networks to support the pillars of leadership and research

We are holding sessions in the new year to provide information and peer support to those starting their advancing practice journeys. We are looking forward to meeting all of the new trainees across the wide spectrum that is Advancing Practice.

The Faculty team wish all of our Advancing Practice colleagues and stakeholders a joyful festive period and a happy new year! If you are working to keep our patients safe, we hope you get some much deserved time with your loved ones and we look forward to seeing you all in 2025.

Midlands Advanced Practice Trainees Response to The National Education and Training Survey (NETS)

This year has seen a 16% completion rate for advanced practice trainees in the NETS survey in the Midlands region.  We appreciate the Midlands Advanced Practice Trainees who dedicated their time to complete the survey. Alongside our Advanced Practice Leads and Course Programme Leads who facilitated its distribution and reminders.

NETS, conducted annually by NHS England’s quality team, is the only national survey accessible to all advanced practitioner trainees. It’s crucial to achieve a robust response rate to enable us to effectively act on feedback. We can determine what is working well and what could be improved for all trainees.

Feedback is categorised into key areas such as induction, supervision, overall learning experience, and more. For each employing organisation, the average score in each category is compared to the national average scores. We will publish the full report for Midlands as soon as it is available in the New Year. In the meantime, you can read the 2023 NETS report for the Midlands by visiting the NETS Reporting Tool. You can also download the guide to using the toolkit.

If you have any queries about NETS, please contact the quality team at england.qualityme@nhs.net or the Midlands Faculty for Advancing Practice Midlands at england.apfac.midlands@nhs.net.

Summary of the National Advancing Practice Conference 2024

Advancing Practice Conference 2023

Our Training Programme Director for Acute Care, Jennifer Riley shares a summary of the Centre for Advancing Practice 8th annual conference.

The Centre’s conference took place on November 13 and 14, we heard from some fantastic speakers showcasing wok from across the Midlands.

James Pratt discussed the importance of governance for the successful implementation and growth of advanced practice roles. Kate Knowles and Sarah Chalmers Page shared the work they have completed for primary care advanced practitioners and their employers. They answered frequently asked questions via a dedicated website hosted on the Nottinghamshire Alliance Training Hub.

Heather James discussed her role as a trainee advanced clinical practitioner in vascular podiatry. Nicki Heys shared her role working as an advanced clinical practitioner in critical care and rehabilitation, discussing the impact this is having on patient outcomes and recovery.

Dr Gerri Mortimore highlighted the need for increased reporting of adverse drug reactions and the pivotal role advanced practitioners can play in this. It was also great to hear about Gerri’s role as a Government Commissioner for the Commission on Human Medicines.

A theme running throughout the conference was the need to improve inclusivity and diversity within advanced practice roles. Vittoria Sorice delivered a thought-provoking session based on her work around reducing racial bias in healthcare.

Debs Harding led a session around the importance of high-quality supervision for the developing advanced practitioner. In the panel we saw Matt Fowler discussing his role as an advanced practice supervisor. Jason Moseley talked about his experiences of supervision as a trainee advanced clinical practitioner at University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust.

Professor Julian Barratt shared that we could expect release of the refreshed Multiprofessional Framework and Workplace supervision for Advanced Practice, in early 2025.

Final thoughts:

Finally, a session that generated lots of discussion was the launch of the UK research academy of advancing practice. Dr Navina Evans gave us her annual challenge which this year is demonstrating impact of advanced practice. It is no surprise that this was one of the key areas of focus for the academy following their poll of conference attendees.

A packed two days full of lively discussion, updates and networking. Recordings from the sessions will be available in the coming weeks.

Implementation of the Midwifery Capabilities Framework (2022)

Our Training Programme Director (TPD) for Midwifery shares an update following the implementation of the Midwifery Capabilities Framework (2022)

It’s evident from students’ experiences, learning, and their care provision, that Advanced Practice in Midwifery is having a positive effect. As we saw in the last bulletin, the midwives have been able to deliver care beyond their previous ability. This is due to the increased knowledge from the master’s level course. The trainees appreciate, with enthusiasm, how the bespoke lectures and clinical proficiencies are the backbone in their ability to make complex decisions for their patient’s needs.

With reference to the recent letters, papers and recommendations about Midwifery, Advancing Practice is providing service users with individualised and advanced level care. Examples of this are in the workplace with Enhanced Maternal Care, Maternal Medicine, Midwifery Assessment Unit / Triage and Perinatal Mental Health.

Please contact Elizabeth Bennett-Hayes at e.bennetthayes@nhs.net if you would like more information on how this could be established in your field of Midwifery.

Case Study: Advanced Clinical Practitioner in Midwifery

Our Training Programme Director (TPD) for Midwifery has shared a case study with us about her role as an Advanced Clinical Practitioner Midwife. She is the lead for Enhanced Maternal Care Escalation and Response Team (EMCERT) at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust.

You can read her case study to find out more.

If you’d like to get in touch with Liz, contact e.bennetthayes@nhs.net

Apprenticeships Update

Following the announcement that Skills England are reviewing level 7 apprenticeships, we have been made aware of two email addresses, each looking in parallel to assess the impact of the proposed removal of the level 7 apprenticeship. 

In the NHS, apprenticeships have been used to great success and several people have been in contact to seek clarity or for further information.  

We are lobbying and engaging in conversations, but we also encourage others who have comments and evidence-based concerns to do the same. 

The email addresses are:

Skills.ENGLAND@education.gov.uk

level7.APPRENTICESHIPS@education.gov.uk

Please ensure that you send to your comments and concerns to both addresses.

Upcoming webinars

Supporting the Advancing Practice Workforce in Practice: Approaches to Identifying and Supporting Learners in Difficulty

Join us as we explore how to support advanced practitioners in the workplace, particularly those facing challenges.

Date: Wednesday 29 January 2025

Time: 12:30pm to 1:30 pm

Sign up to register to attend.

This webinar is open to anyone within the advancing practice workforce: qualified practitioners, supervisors, organisational leads, and course leads. Please share amongst your networks.


Key topics include:

  • How to ensure inclusivity within the workforce
  • Consider neurodiversity and generational differences within the workforce
  • Hear from those with lived experiences and the strategies they found helpful
  • Organisational responsibilities
  • The importance of collaboration with Higher Education Institutions (HEIs)

Advancing Practice Trainees Network: Introductory Session

Join us for our virtual introduction and network session!

Register to attend one of the sessions below. You only need to register to attend one of these session as content will be repeated.

The Midlands Faculty for Advancing Practice invites all new trainees in the Midlands starting in academic year 2024/2025. Please share amongst your trainee networks.

  • Get to know the faculty, who we are and what we can do for you
  • Know what to expect during your training
  • Find out NHS England expectations of trainees
  • Signpost you to useful resources
  • Facilitate conversations for you to get to know your peers better

This is a great opportunity to come along and meet the NHS England Midlands Faculty for Advancing Practice team and your fellow trainees, virtually!

Midlands Advanced Practice Forum

This article is written by Hirminder Ubhi in her capacity as co-chair for the Midlands Advanced Practice Forum. NHS England are not affiliated with this independent Forum however we do have a working, collaborative partnership, working together to share information relevant to practitioners in the Forum.

Introduction

My name is Hirminder Ubhi, I am the co-chair for the Midlands Advanced Practice Forum, alongside our Chair Mary Hutchinson and other committee members.

This is a role, that I undertake as part of the usual day job. My role recently changed to the newly appointed Lead Advanced Clinical Practitioner for Primary Care, Communities and Therapies Directorate. This is at what was previously known as, Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust.

The Forum is made up of multi-disciplinary clinicians who work at an advanced and / or consultant level. There are also representatives from regional Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), NHS England and other health professional organisations.

Join the Forum:

We would like to take this opportunity to highlight and invite you to The Midlands Advanced Practice Forum. If you are not already a member and highlight its founding principles:

  • Providing peer support and shared learning across domains of care
  • Formulating recommendations about quality standards in practice
  • To further develop links with key national and local stakeholders
  • Promoting research activities to evaluate the effectiveness of advanced practice roles for integrating and improving care for our population

Events:

The Forum provides professional meetings for multi-professional advanced practitioners, via alternate, quarterly virtual and in-person events across the Midlands region.

In October 2024 we hosted our On the Road- Roadshow, with a successful event held at Birmingham City University. We provided an opportunity for networking in person for multi-professional advanced practitioners. We had practitioners from all sectors, across the region and updates from the forum, our website and membership.

There were updates from The Centre of Advancing Practice Lead Professor Julian Barratt. Alongside other advanced clinical practitioners showcasing their work in the region. They ranged from primary care services, a clinician who made us consider Empathy and what that means as practitioner. And a practitioner sharing her knowledge on imaging modalities.

Whilst these meetings offer a brief networking opportunity amongst advanced practitioners, the Forum acknowledge the importance of facilitating more personalised connections. This may be foreshadowing opportunities, to answer professional queries, discussing research or service improvements, sharing of knowledge and expertise, and more.

If you haven’t attended so far, join us at our next virtual event, which will take place on Wednesday 15 January 2025.

We’re also excited to announce our upcoming in person all day conference in Birmingham. This will be on Friday 21 March 2025. This is supported by our sponsors who support us with refreshments and cakes at our in person events. Keep an eye out for your ‘save the date’ and poster submission information from our lovely chair, Mary Hutchinson.

Launch of the Forum’s website:

We (the Forum) have our Forum website which you can visit – The Midlands Advanced Practice Forum. The website includes resources relating to previous activity and a live membership database of advanced practitioners. We hope that whatever your interest in advanced practice (trainee, qualified, educator, employer) you will consider having your name and professional details included in this database. To enable administration of the website and database, there is a membership subscription fee of £40/annum (£10/quarter) for those who consent to join.

Although the Forum’s web presence is minimalistic at present – we encourage and hope you will join us to help it evolve meaningfully.

We will maintain the present Forum email distribution list and virtual quarterly meetings, will remain free to attend.

Finally, If you have any queries about the Forum or website, or would like to be added to our mailing list please email mary.hutchinson4@nhs.net or Hirminder.ubhi@nhs.net