Advanced Practitioner Case Study: Beth Payne – Advanced Practitioner and Clinical Lead
Beth is an Advanced Practitioner, Clinical Lead for a mental health in-patient rehabilitation ward and working across the community rehabilitation team in Dorset
Beth trained as a mental health nurse and subsequently completed her NMP training. As a Band 6 practitioner she knew she wanted to further develop her clinical skills via an advanced practice Masters’ rather than move into a management role but saw limited options. When the consultant psychiatrist retired from the in-patient rehabilitation ward it was known that the role would be challenging to recruit into due to an extreme lack of psychiatrists in the area. Beth and her manager suggested they use the opportunity in order to create a 12-month secondment for a advanced practitioner role for the ward, to explore how such a role could be used within this setting and what benefits it could bring.
Beth works at Level 7 across the four pillars of Advanced Practice
| Clinical | – Autonomous practitioner – Manages admission, treatment and discharge – Supports team with clinical risk |
| Leadership | – Clinical Lead – Leads collaborative working across teams and services – Manages multi-disciplinary team meetings |
| Education | – Leads clinical supervision – Provides in-house training e.g. physical health in mental health settings |
| Research | – Audits – Service improvement – developing the advanced practice role across settings |
The role would be supported by a consultant psychiatrist working elsewhere within the trust.
After 12 months, an evaluation and needs analysis were undertaken to support a business case to make this a permanent role, initially at Band 7, later re-banded as Band 8a in recognition of the level of responsibility.
Beth’s role includes managing admissions including history taking and undertaking mental & physical health assessments. As well as investigations, bi-weekly patient reviews, management of non-complex physical health issues, formulation and diagnosis, treatment planning including non-medical prescribing and facilitating discharge.
She also chairs weekly MDT meetings, provides in-house training e.g. on physical health management.
Feedback from a colleague. “Offers timely support for staff when planning care and support and has improved quality of information shared between care teams”
For patients and carers, she is able to provide greater accessibility to a lead clinician. Through advanced knowledge, skills and experience she is also well-placed to offer them education in conditions and condition management.
For Dorset Healthcare, she provides a senior clinical voice within task & finish groups and supports service development.
Beth is extending her role to work across the new community rehabilitation team, supporting the discharge and transition of individuals with complex needs into a community setting through enhanced continuity of care. This is part of an initiative to enhance admission prevention and intensify support following discharge from hospital.
Feedback from a patient. “A friendly face that I see all the time, that is always available and I know will support me”
Read more advanced practice case studies from the South West region here