New approach to training advanced practitioners

Guidance provided by Health Education England

Published: 25 November 2020 Learning

New guidance on the supervision of advanced clinical practice provides practical and comprehensive guidance for workplace supervision of trainee advanced practitioners.

The Health Education England (HEE) document, called Workplace Supervision for Advanced Clinical Practice, sets out clear pathways for both the trainee and supervisor.

Multi-professional advanced clinical practitioners are a growing part of the modern healthcare workforce. They are registered practitioners from a range of professional backgrounds that have advanced level capabilities across the four pillars of clinical, leadership and management, education and research.

To develop these capabilities, advanced practitioners undertake a combination of practice-based (workplace) learning and training with academic learning at level 7 (masters). Currently, supervision has a profession-specific focus and varies greatly within and across professions.

The new guidance aims to establish the requirements of multi-professional advanced practitioner supervision and the training and development of supervisors, and improve consistency and limit variation across the health and care sector with a focus on professional and public safety.  

Dr Richard Collier, HEE Lead for Advanced Practice and Lead for Centre for Advancing Practice said: 'The document addresses the issues of multi-profession supervision within the changing and varied environments within which the trainee will be learning. The employers role is also identified with a solution-centric approach to some of the challenges that may occur in relation to providing and supporting workplace supervision'.