University celebrates 21 years of Advanced Clinical Practice

Since then, the programme has continued to build on and develop its commitments to the stakeholder trusts within the region and our trainees to ensure that the education and support they receive is clinically excellent and appropriate to their role and to the high standards required by NHS England and other accrediting bodies.

Nicola Parkin, Programme Lead for Advanced Clinical Practice at the University, said: “We have stayed true to our original commitment from 2005 to deliver excellent, relevant and evidence based clinical training and education within the advanced practice field. We have also managed to stay ‘forward facing’ to meet the challenges of today’s healthcare environment, for example by adding ‘speciality specific’ pathways that meet the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine’s (FICM) requirements and other professional bodies within Mental Health and Primary Care.

“This week will see us celebrate our ACP alumni within Greater Manchester who have utilised their training and time with us to contribute and improve patient experience and clinical provision within their chosen fields of practice.”

Dr Angeline Price, ACP Consultant, Northern Care Alliance (NCA), said: “I started the ACP programme in October 2016, moving from cardiology into geriatric medicine and being new to the specialty. I completed the programme in 2018 as one of the first ACPs in my department. 

“It was a pivotal point in my career and, looking back, one of the best decisions I have ever made. 

“The programme gave me the knowledge, clinical skills and confidence to develop as an autonomous practitioner, whilst supported by a team that embraced the possibilities of advanced practice and encouraged me to explore and push the boundaries of the role. The programme and training set the foundations for me to develop across all four pillars of advanced practice and has supported my journey to becoming a nurse academic, clinical leader and national voice for nursing and advanced practice.

“Most importantly, it has enabled me to contribute to developing more responsive models of care for older people, including earlier specialist frailty assessment and pathways that support appropriate treatment, discharge and care closer to home. It has been wonderful to see advanced practice grow within our department, we now have several qualified ACPs, two trainees and an acute frailty nurse. I feel incredibly proud to have been part of that journey.”

Laura Ahearn, Lead ACP for Medicine and Non-Medical Prescribing, NCA, said: “My MSc in Advanced Clinical Practice played a significant role in both my personal and professional development. The programme taught me resilience and perseverance, particularly after initially failing a pathophysiology module, which strengthened my determination and confidence. 

“As part of my MSc quality improvement project, I identified a gap in antimicrobial stewardship education and developed an IV to oral antibiotic switch protocol. This work subsequently led to opportunities to collaborate with NHS England on the development of a national nursing antimicrobial stewardship education package. The presentation and leadership skills I gained through the MSc gave me the confidence to present my work nationally, including at the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy Conference. 

“Since completing the programme, I have progressed into leadership roles Advanced Practice Medicine Lead and Non-Medical Prescribing across the Northern Care Alliance. The MSc equipped me with the clinical, leadership, change management and quality improvement skills required to influence practice across large organisations, ultimately supporting the delivery of safer, evidence-based care and improved patient outcomes.”

John Murray, ACP Consultant at The Christie, said: “My cohort included a podiatrist, optician, physio, midwives and nurses. We all brought a variety of skills and discussions in class were interesting.

“For many APs, clinical and patient care is their focus and reason for undertaking their training and coming to work. How do I make things better, what can I do, who can I influence to make the changes. The skills you’ll gain from an AP course allow you to be credible, knowledgeable and become influential to be able to instigate these changes. There are also now more opportunities for career progression after completing the training.

“I’m not sure what I would be doing if I had not done my AP training, it has changed my life. I have taught in Moscow, Mumbai and across the USA, Africa and Europe. I have collaborated with colleagues across the continents on research projects, become a PI, written papers, chapters in books, been on TV, podcasts, interviews, chaired international meetings, been President of EBMT. Along the way I have met some amazing people and I hope that I still have new ground to explore. If I had not done my AP training would any of this happened?”

Tara McGinley, Strategic Lead for Advanced Clinical Practice, Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Trust, said: “Having graduated from Salford University in 2008 with an MSc in Advanced Clinical Practice I have utilised my knowledge and skills within a fulfilling career within the mental health field. 

“The programme equipped me in my post as an AP in a community mental health team with the skills to work autonomously and innovatively to provide the best care to my patients with complex mental health (MH) needs. My greater understanding of pathophysiology allowed me to work in a deeper and more holistic manner recognising the many comorbidities MH patients often present with. 

“Over the next 10 years I developed my skills and confidence before moving to a new Lead AP post within an acute mental health inpatient setting in Manchester. My role was to develop a new workforce of AP’s providing leadership, education and mentoring of trainees whilst working clinically. I was able to develop this team over several years and witnessed the valuable contribution they made to their patients and teams. 

“I progressed to work as a Nurse Consultant within an acute inpatient ward where I was able to further my clinical and leadership skills working as an autonomous practitioner supporting the clinical team. I was awarded the Chief Nursing Officer Gold Nursing badge for nursing excellence in 2019 which was a great honour and privilege.

“I am now the Strategic Lead for advanced practice for GMMH NHS Trust where I have overseen the development of clear structures, support and education of the AP role within all our services. I am committed to supporting both our trainees and qualified staff in their individual journeys as AP’s. I have developed strong relationships with NHS England and the local Higher Education Institutions including the University of Salford, who have endeavoured to support the mental health pathway for our trainee AP’s providing the specialist mental health knowledge required to support the AP role within our services. 

“My career as an AP has brought me much opportunity and fulfilment allowing the space to continue to learn, reflect, improve and ultimately provide high-quality care to patients and support staff, trainees and teams.”