Advanced Clinical Practitioners (ACPs) are experienced healthcare professionals (such as nurses, paramedics, pharmacists, physiotherapists, and occupational therapists) who undertake a master’s degree and extended clinical training to develop the knowledge and skills necessary to independently assess, diagnose, and treat patients across a variety of clinical settings. Historically, the lack of clear role definitions and standardised training pathways has meant that ACP roles were often introduced in an ad hoc way to fill service gaps, which has limited the development of a distinct, complementary role alongside medical staff.

In 2019, Health Education England South West (HEE SW) launched a regional pilot across five Emergency Departments (EDs) to train a cohort of Emergency Care ACPs (EC ACPs). This pilot incorporated the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) credentialling process and offered enhanced funding to support supernumerary trainee working (where trainee time is protected for learning and not counted towards service delivery). It also provided access to specialty placements (including anaesthetics, ICU, and acute medicine), regional peer support to build a community of practice, dedicated training events, and annual reviews of training progress. The goal was to create a better training environment for EC ACPs and enable more timely completion of training compared to previous cohorts.

This presentation will share insights from a recently published qualitative evaluation of the South West pilot, capturing the experiences and perspectives of three key groups involved in EC ACP training: (1) Consultant EC ACP Leads responsible for overseeing clinical training and supervision within the EDs; (2) EC ACP trainees who participated in the HEE SW pilot programme; and (3) EC ACPs who completed conventional training prior to the pilot. These insights highlight the pilot’s impact on training quality, supervision, and role development, offering valuable lessons to inform future ACP education and workforce planning.

Specifically, topics which will be discussed include:
– Challenges delivering training and supervision in fast paced, high pressured clinical environments
– The mismatch between generic master’s programmes and specialised clinical requirements
– The benefits of a flexible, individualised approach to credentialing targets
– Navigating role identity and transitions within ACP training