Midlands Faculty for Advancing Practice Update Bulletin – Sept 2023

NEW Faculty Email Address

As you may be aware, Health Education England (HEE) has merged with NHS England, and is now part of NHS England Workforce, Training and Education (NHSE WT&E). This means we have a new email address:

england.apfac.midlands@nhs.net please use this email for any future correspondences.

Our previous Faculty email address: apfac.midlands@hee.nhs.uk is now no longer in use. Automatic email forwarding has been enabled for a short period of time if you have been in touch with us recently.

NEW Advanced Practice Funding Guidance

Guidance is now available on funding for advanced practice in the Midlands region to explain the funding available, process and timelines for 2023/24 and it includes answers to frequently asked questions.

This guidance is additional to the general information we have about funding on our website and also includes information on:

You can access the guidance here, it can also be found via our Midlands guidance and resources page.

National Conference – 8th & 9th November 2023

The Centre for Advancing Practice Conference returns on 8th and 9th November 2023.

This flagship event is a premier learning and networking opportunity, at the cutting-edge of the Advancing Practice landscape.

Registration will open early October 2023.

The call for poster abstracts has now closed. For more information and timeline on poster abstracts that have already been submitted can be found here.

Inclusivity Video Participation for The National Conference

NHS England recognise the need for the NHS to be a place where inclusion and diversity is celebrated, where everyone is welcome, with a culture of belonging and trust.

To highlight the benefit of having an inclusive workforce, the NHS England Centre for Advancing Practice are looking for practitioners to reflect and record the benefits that a diverse workforce brings to the NHS. These recordings will be combined and used as part of a session at the NHS England National Advancing Practice Conference in November and will thereafter be available on the NHS England YouTube page for public viewing. Recording a clip for inclusion in our video is simple and takes less than 2 minutes.

If you are interested in contributing to this important initiative and are willing to share your own reflections in this way, please read the guidance document and complete a consent form, we would welcome you sharing a clip of yourself for inclusion in our video. The deadline for submissions is midday (12 noon) 9th October 2023.

Supervision and Assessment funding for advanced practitioner trainees

In 2023-2024 across the Midlands financial support for enabling supervision and assessment of advanced practitioner trainees will continue to be provided for all continuing trainees (commissioned/apprentices), who started in academic year 2022-2023 (now progressing to year 2), and new trainees (commissioned/apprentices) starting in this current academic year, 2023-2024.

For this year the rate of payment for supervision and assessment support will be £2,704 per trainee (paid on a pro-rata basis). Provision of supervisory support for trainees should be in accordance with the Minimum standards for advanced practice workplace supervision published by the Centre for Advancing Practice in 2022. This guidance should be read in conjunction with the other resources published by the Centre for Advancing Practice for supporting supervision and assessment of advanced practitioner trainees such as the: Employer’s advanced practice supervision action plan; Supervisor readiness checklist; Readiness to become an advanced practitioner; and the recently published Advanced Practice Supervisor Capabilities.

NEW TPDs ICS Allocation

Our Training Programme Directors are subject specialists who link each Integrated Care Systems with Faculty  activities.

We have recently re-aligned the allocation of TPDs due to recent changes within the team. Please invite us to your system-wide Advancing Practice Workstream meetings to facilitate collaborative working and information sharing.

Case Study – Charles Spencer

We have been asking you to submit your case studies through to the faculty and we have had some great submissions to showcase the amazing work our Advanced Practitioners are doing, across the region.

We are showcasing the work of Charles Spencer who is passionate about advanced practice at South Warwickshire District Hospital.

If you’re feeling inspired and want us to showcase your work as an advanced practitioner in your region, download a case study template and submit to england.apfac.midlands@nhs.net

Midwifery – Update

Following on from the launch of the Advanced Clinical Practice in Midwifery: Capability Framework in November 2022, we have had a fantastic response from employing organisations in the Midlands. Across the country the response has been positive, with the Midlands responding in large numbers. Several applications have been made and secured for September and there are further trainees who will commence this course in January. The TPD in midwifery will be available as a support to these trainees and their managers, linking in with them, advising and helping answer questions. This is a fantastic opportunity for both the Midwives and their employers to deliver Advanced Practice in maternity.

Mental Health, Learning Disability and Autism Bulletin

The Mental Health, Learning Disability and Autism Bulletin returns this September 2023. There is a lot to look forward to in the coming months, such as the full roll out of NHS 111 ‘select mental health option’ functionality for patients of all ages in a mental health crisis to access local urgent mental health support over the phone, in all parts of the country. We will also launch a new phase of our Help Us Help You Talking Therapies campaign and encourage more people with anxiety and depression to come forward and seek support from our services.        

Here you may find some items of interest as it may signpost people to new information/research, webinars and events etc., that may be useful along your Advanced Clinical Practice journey.

Supervising Trainee Advanced Practitioners Webinar

The Midlands Faculty for Advancing Practice are pleased to announce that we will be holding a webinar on supervising trainee advanced practitioners on Wednesday 11th October, 12:30 – 14:00, via MS Teams. 

• Are you a supervisor of trainee advanced practitioners?
• Do you know what resources are available in your role?
• Do you know what is expected of you and your trainee as supervisor and supervisee?
• Do you know why supervising a trainee advanced practitioner can be different?

This webinar will discuss and signpost you to resources for supervising trainee advanced practitioners, introduce the newly launched capabilities for supervision document and outline the support networks that are available for you in this role. There will also be an opportunity to ask any questions.

If you would like to attend, please sign up here.

NMC Work, Regulation – sign up for updates

Reviewing advanced practice regulation

Whether in hospitals or in community settings, nurses and midwives are at the forefront of delivering complex care, working collaboratively with other health and care professionals for the benefit of people who use services. These autonomous and expert roles are commonly referred to as ‘advanced practice’.

These professionals’ have advanced knowledge and skill which enables them to demonstrate high level communication skills, make timely person-centred decisions, provide continuity of care, and support patients to navigate their care pathway seamlessly across different specialities, settings, and professions.

But it’s unclear whether people who use services and the public understand this and what it means for them. This matters because leading and delivering the level of practice that advanced practitioners are undertaking can carry inherent risks to the public and people using services.

Also, people may not know what it means when their nurse or midwife describes themselves as an advanced practitioner – and even those who understand can’t necessarily expect the same level of knowledge, skill and experience from different advanced practitioners with similar roles and job titles.

That’s why we’re carrying out a comprehensive review of the advanced practice landscape and whether additional regulation of advanced practice is needed.

Advanced practice research

All nurses and midwives on our register are regulated professionals who abide by the Code and standards, and revalidate every three years in line with their scope of practice, knowledge and competence. But over the years there have been calls for more specific regulation of advanced practice nursing and midwifery.

We recently commissioned independent research from the Nuffield Trust. The research found variation in how professionals enter and practise in these roles across the UK. This means there’s no single definition of advanced practice, nor any standards of education or proficiency that ensure equal levels of care for people.

The consensus from the interviews and focus groups they carried out was that some form of specific regulation was needed for advanced practice in nursing and midwifery.

Next steps and getting involved

Any changes we make must lead to better care for everyone, everywhere. To do this it’s crucial that we work collaboratively with a wide range of stakeholders from across the UK, and throughout health and social care.

This research is now informing further key lines of enquiry, including engaging with the public and people who use services, before presenting our Council (our governing body) with options to consider in January.

We’ve appointed Kay Fawcett OBE to lead a stakeholder steering group for this work, which includes key partners in health and social care across the four UK countries.

If you’d like to be kept up to date with our progress, and be notified of any opportunities to get involved with the key lines of enquiry and future stages of the project, please sign up to our community of interest here.

You can find out more about the NMC’s advanced practice review here, or contact Clare Sutherland NMC Advisor (England) – advanced practice

Resources remain available for midwives and managers, regarding Advanced Practice and can be accessed through our website here.