Health Education England (HEE) Southwest training pilot
Evaluation of the Health Education England (HEE) pilot of supported training for emergency care Advanced Clinical Practitioners.
Background
Advanced Clinical Practitioners (ACPs) are healthcare professionals who come from any regulated healthcare professional background (e.g. nurses and paramedics). ACPs undertake extended clinical and educational training to develop the knowledge and autonomous skills to independently assess, investigate, and treat patients. Health Education England (HEE) South West (SW) NHS England (NHSE) provided a package of support for Emergency Care ACPs training in emergency departments in the Southwest, starting in 2019. The pilot aimed to reduce variation in the delivery of ACP training; training experience and duration of the training, to provide a more coherent and sustainable training model.
HEE SW funded CURE to undertake an evaluation of the pilot programme.
Objectives
The study evaluated the HEE SW training programme for Emergency Care ACPs. Specifically, it assessed
- the experiences of trainee EC ACPs participating in the HEE SW pilot (Pilot EC ACPs) compared to trainee EC ACPs who undertook standard EC ACP training (Non-pilot EC ACPs)
- the experiences of Consultant EC ACP Leads and Clinical Leads for the HEE SW pilot who were involved in the supervision and implementation of the pilot training programme
Methods
The study examined the views and experiences of trainee Emergency Care ACPs and strategic leads involved in the implementation of the pilot ACP training programme. Interviews and survey methods were used to capture both quantitative and qualitative data, as appropriate for each research objective, in three stages.
- Strategic Leads involved in the implementation of the HEE SW NHSE pilot training programme were interviewed to explore their views on its implementation in the EDs, including barriers and facilitators to successful implementation; the impact the HEE SW NHSE training programme has had on departments; and ideas about how implementation could be improved in the future.
- Trainee Emergency Care ACPs in the HEE SW NHSE pilot training programme and non-pilot trainee ACPs completed a short survey to measure satisfaction with their training.
- Interviews were undertaken with the trainee Emergency Care ACPs to explore their experiences of undertaking the training programme
The study took place in five hospital sites (Plymouth, Torbay, Taunton, UH Bristol and North Bristol) that implemented the HEE SW NHSE training programme.
Results
The study was completed in September 2022. The final report is available to read below.