National Education and Training Survey (NETS) is now open
The NETS is now open to all healthcare students, trainees and apprentices. NETS offers a platform to share your experiences and shape the future of healthcare education. Your feedback helps us make informed decisions to enhance learning environments, support retention and recruitment.
Take 10 minutes to share your experiences!
You can click on the image to expand the poster and scan the QR Code.
National Advancing Practice Conference
We are thrilled to announce the dates of the Centre for Advancing Practice National Conference, a landmark event dedicated to the future of advancing practice.
Date: Wednesday 13 November and Thursday 14 November 2024
Location: Virtual / Online
Theme: “Advancing Practice: Optimising Impact”
The conference will bring together leading voices in advancing practice, providing a platform to explore the latest developments, share innovative approaches, and shape the future of health and care delivery. This event is designed to foster collaboration, inspire new thinking, and empower healthcare professionals.
Who Should Attend?
This conference is open to all health and care professionals involved in, or interested in, advanced practice roles. No matter if you’re an advanced clinical practitioner, consultant, educator, or manager, this event is for you.
Why Attend?
- Gain invaluable insights from national leaders and innovators in advanced practice.
- Share experiences and best practices with your peers.
- Learn about the latest trends, research, and tools that can enhance your practice.
- Play a part in shaping the future of advanced practice in the UK.
Registration is now open. Register to attend via this registration link.
Spaces are limited, don’t miss the chance to be part of this important event.
Visit here to secure your place and join us for what promises to be a truly inspiring and transformative conference.
Stay tuned for more details about speakers, the programme, and exciting updates!
Let’s come together to advance practice, innovate care, and improve outcomes for patients across the nation.
We look forward to seeing you there!
#AdvancingPractice2024
Commissioning of Advanced Practice Places
The Faculty for Advancing Practice Midlands is currently taking over the responsibility for commissioning processes. This will apply to all advanced practice trainees funded within the current financial year.
If you have any enquiries in relation to 2024/2025 advanced practice trainee funding you can direct these to our faculty email address at england.apfac.midlands@nhs.net
We are currently developing and reviewing our procedures at this time. We are working hard to ensure robust governance and assurance for all advanced practice funded places.
Professor Julian Barratt Appointed as Head of Centre for Advancing Practice
Julian writes:
From July onward I have been substantively appointed as the Head of the Centre for Advancing Practice at NHS England Workforce, Training & Education (NHS England WT&E). The Centre leads on the oversight of advancing practice developments and innovations across the 7 NHS regions of England. I started working with Health Education England (HEE) as the Midlands Regional Faculty for Advancing Practice 4 years ago during the pandemic in December 2020. My remit was to establish the Midlands regional Faculty for Advancing Practice. I have since really enjoyed working with all my colleagues in the regional Faculty. They have all worked together as a connected team to ensure the successful establishment of the regional Faculty within the Midlands.
Another great aspect of my role as Regional Faculty Lead was collaborating with advanced practitioners and academics across the Midlands region. This includes individuals who are leading advanced practice innovations within provider organisations and universities. Alongside, those expediting access to care and improving experiences and outcomes of care for patients, carers, and families.
The Midlands is a very large and diverse region which has pioneered the early development of the inception and implementation of advanced practice roles within provider organisations. The Midlands Faculty has a key role for working in partnership with advanced practitioner colleagues across the region to support the further embedding and progression of advanced practice workforce transformation.
Interim arrangements
As many of you know, our regional Faculty colleague, Sarah Meenan, is now the interim Regional Faculty Lead. She is providing ongoing key leadership for continuing the coordinating regional oversight of advanced practice for NHS England WT&E together with the Faculty team, other colleagues in NHS England WT&E, and collaborative partners and stakeholders across the region.
Final thoughts
As I continue the key work of progressing the advancing practice agenda from a national perspective, I look back with fondness on my time as the Midlands Regional Faculty. I would like to thank you all for your generous support in helping to establish the Faculty in the Midlands region, and for all your work on successfully implementing advanced practice workforce innovations for the improvement of patient care.
With best wishes,
Prof Julian Barratt
Head of Centre for Advancing Practice
NHS England WT&E
Trainee Change of Circumstances
We recently updated the link to our regional Trainee Change of Circumstances Form. You can access the online form here. The form should be completed by the trainee, but where this isn’t possible the employer can complete the form on their behalf.
When a trainee moves employers, funding is not guaranteed to continue. We link funding to a workforce need, not an individual’s personal development.
When a trainee moves from the employer where they originally secured the funding, the funding may stop if the requirements for providing the funding cannot be met by the new employing organisation.
Our Midlands funding guidance document outlines the process for trainees, employers and universities. This guidance applies to Midlands advanced practice trainees on all commissioned and apprenticeship MSc Advanced Clinical Practice programmes. To access this guidance please click here and you will see a tab for the guidance document.
You must complete the form if any of the following apply:
- Change of personal details (i.e. name, email address, phone number)
- Change of university and / or course
- Change of co-ordinating educational supervisor
- Change of employer
- A break from the advanced practice training programme (i.e. maternity leave, long term sickness, career break etc.)
- Withdrawal from advanced practice training programme
If you have any queries about the new process, then please contact the Faculty for Advancing Practice Midlands at: england.apfac.midlands@nhs.net
Spotlight on Midwifery
We are putting Midwifery in the spotlight in this bulletin. Three midwives currently in their first year of the MSc Advanced Clinical Practice in the Midlands region share their thoughts and reflections below. It is great to see what Advanced Practice means to Midwives and how it is benefiting the service. In conjunction with the Midwifery Capability Framework (2022) they are able to further develop and apply their new knowledge and skills through the four pillars.
First trainee shares
“Since starting this course I have been able to better support women due to my enhanced knowledge, clinical skills and care planning. I have developed excellent working relationships with the multi-disciplinary team who have supported my learning and recognised my role in collaborative care.”
Second trainee shares
“Completing the first year of my Advanced Clinical Practitioner training has significantly enhanced my ability to provide comprehensive care to pregnant patients, particularly through improved history taking, physical assessment, and clinical decision-making skills. It has been incredibly rewarding, and I’m excited to promote this role as one of the first midwifery Advanced Practitioners within Leicester, advancing the quality of care in our community”
Third trainee shares
“I am now one year into my advanced practice training and feel I have a truly found a role that I will be able to truly improve patient care and outcomes. Being a midwife is a huge responsibility but also a privilege that I feel grateful for every day, taking on the further training to become an advanced clinical practitioner is allowing me to help, support and provide a level of care for the women that I never thought I would be able to. Alongside my colleagues both from midwifery and obstetric there is a true appreciation and level of excitement about what the role of the advanced clinical practice within midwifery will add to both the workforce and patient experience”.
Upcoming Webinars and Events – Save The Date
Rural, Remote, and Coastal Advanced Practice Webinar
Date: Tuesday 15 October 2024
Time: 9am to 10am
Are you an advanced practitioner interested in finding out how you could develop your experience and knowledge of rural, remote, or coastal healthcare in England? Do you want to further develop the effective delivery of healthcare for improving the experiences and outcomes of care for patients, carers, and families in rural, remote, and coastal areas? Or are you involved in planning the delivery or development of healthcare services in remote, rural, or coastal areas and would like to find out how advanced practitioners can be supported to improve the delivery of care in those challenging environments? If so, please come to this exploratory webinar being facilitated by the NHS England Centre for Advancing Practice together with the University of the Highlands and Islands and NHS Education for Scotland, which will explore education development opportunities for advanced practitioners in rural, remote, and coastal areas.
Please register for the webinar via this registration link
AHP Advanced Practice and Emerging Areas Webinar
Save the date!
Date: Thursday 5 December 2024
Time: 12:30pm to 1:30pm
This webinar will be looking at the workforce solutions to support initiating advancing practice roles in to your service/ organisations. Utilising case studies and exemplars from practice. We will share registration details and more information in the coming weeks.
Supporting the Advancing Practice Workforce in Practice Webinar
Save the date!
Date: Wednesday 29 January 2025
Time: 12:30pm to 1:30 pm
The Midlands Faculty will be holding a webinar exploring how we can support of our advancing practice workforce in practice, in particular those who may be experiencing difficulties.
It promises a packed agenda to include how we ensure inclusivity within the workforce, and will consider neurodiversity and generational differences, with a wide range of speakers, including those with lived experience.
We will also take this opportunity to launch the Midlands Advancing Practice Faculty guidance for supporting those experiencing difficulty in the workplace.
We will share registration details and more information in the coming weeks.
Midlands Advanced Practice Forum – Roadshow and Conference
Introduction to the Forum
The Midlands Advanced Practice Forum is an independent multi-professional group. They promote a platform for advanced practice networking and peer support. Alongside, shared learning across specialities in the NHS Midlands region.
Previous event
The Midlands Forum continues to host in person and virtual events each year, bringing to you all things Advanced Practice. The Forum hosted another successful event in Worcester in April 2024, with 35 delegates in attendance, one delegate described it as:
‘A great event, with a buzz in the room to allow for networking and shared learning and inspiration. There were a fantastic range of speakers, who brought us up to date, with all things Advanced Practice’. ‘Looking forward to the next one.’
Upcoming events
There are plans for our second in-person event, this year on Wednesday16th October 2024 8:45am to 13:00pm, at Birmingham City University, Seacole Building SCT 024, Westbourne Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 3TN. The Forum looks forward to welcoming you there. If you would like to attend and have not already signed up, please email either Mary Hutchinson or Hirminder Ubhi, contact details are below.
The Forum plans to provide a morning of topics, as shown in their agenda and continue to promote their website with its live membership database, continuing to grow. Your membership subscription will give you access to a wide range of skilled experienced advanced practitioners/ trainee advanced practitioners across the Midlands.
We will be also shortly sending out our save the dates for the Advanced Practice Forum all day conference, in Birmingham, on Friday 21st March 2025, so please keep an eye out on your email.
We look forward to welcoming you to the forum events.
If you are not on our mailing list yet, please get in touch with our Chair Mary Hutchinson – mary.hutchinson4@nhs.net or co-Chair Hirminder Ubhi – Hirminder.ubhi@nhs.net
If you’ve any questions, please email us at england.apfac.midlands@nhs.net
Leadership Programme in East Midlands
NHS England Midlands are offering a 3 year East Midlands Leadership and Management programme called “Learning to Lead from Day One” this is delivered through a combination of online e-learning and the face-to-face workshops.
The programme is available for postgraduate learners working within East Midlands. A small number of spaces have been reserved for non-training grades such as SAS and Locally Employed Doctors (LEDs), and Allied Health Professionals. Consultants are not permitted to book onto the programme.
The e-learning must be completed before booking onto the face to face sessions.
These are the upcoming face to face sessions:
-Friday 25th October at Queen’s Medical Centre, Nottingham
-Thursday 21st November at Glenfield
-Friday 6th December at Queen’s Medical Centre, Nottingham
For further information please contact england.futureworkforce@nhs.net
REACT study
Are you an advanced practitioner working in a general practice in the Midlands or South of England?
Would you be interested in participating in a doctoral study, one that aims to understand the research activities of advanced practitioners through interviews, observations and short written reflections?
If so, please complete this form or email carley.moore@brookes.ac.uk . You can also enlarge the image and scan the QR code.
Carley Moore gives us an insight into her REACT study: I work full time as an advanced practitioner in general practice in Oxfordshire and I’m a part time research student at Oxford Brookes University. I am self-funding the REACT study, which aims to better understand the research activities of advanced practitioners. I plan to collect data through interviews, observations, and short reflective templates.
Anyone working at an advanced level in general practice is welcome to participate from any professional background. The recruitment covers England from the Midlands down across all areas. It doesn’t matter how research active participants perceive themselves to be. The study is not auditing or evaluating anyone’s performance.
I understand the demands of your time. The REACT study will not change how participants work. Interviews, observations, and short reflective templates can be completed at a time that suits participants.
Please see the flyer or email carley.moore@brookes.ac.uk for more information or to express an interest in participating. Please feel free to pass these details on to anyone you think might be interested. Thank you very much.