Published 8 June 2024
Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW) is delighted to see a more consistent approach to the development, education and management of current and future enhanced, advanced and consultant clinical practitioner roles across NHS Wales.
This huge improvement to staff development can be attributed to the successful implementation of the Professional Framework for Enhanced, Advanced and Consultant Clinical Practice in Wales over the last twelve months.
Launched a year ago today (8 June 2023), the document outlines recommendations for health boards and trusts around providing better support for individuals working as enhanced, advanced or consultant clinical practitioners in Wales.
Following extensive national engagement, the recommended actions were produced by HEIW to improve education opportunities for practitioners and aid staff retention, all of which results in high quality care for patients.
Since its publication, HEIW has seen high levels of engagement and implementation of the recommendations in health boards and trusts across Wales:
HEIW believes that consistent implementation of the framework will continue to support the provision of safe, accessible and quality patient care.
Enhanced, advanced and consultant clinical practitioners work across all areas of healthcare. The terms ‘enhanced’, ‘advanced’ and ‘consultant’ are used to identify a clinical practitioner’s ‘level of practice’. Defining level of practices enables the identification and recognition of an individual’s skills, knowledge and competency in their area of work.
This enables organisations to plan and better tailor the education, supervision, support and governance required to enable an individual to develop in their role and reach a higher level of practice.
Chris Williams, Advanced and Consultant Practice Development Manager at HEIW who led on the development of the framework, said:
“It is important that service users, practitioners and employers all understand the different levels of clinical practice. We’re pleased that the framework has been welcomed and adopted nationally to better support practitioners with the training and governance required to meet healthcare needs safely. By supporting these individuals, we recognise their skills and retain them in the NHS Wales workforce."
Dr Wendy Mashlan , Chair of the Welsh Advisory Group for Advanced Practice, said:
“The framework has been instrumental in raising the agenda and profile around the development of multi-professional Enhanced, Advanced and Consultant level roles across all areas of healthcare practice in Wales. It is an excellent reference for those wishing to follow a clinical career pathway and influence service change, education and the wider agenda around health. The road map clearly supports growth from novice to expert and is centred around delivering high quality patient care.”
Visit our Professional Framework for Enhanced, Advanced and Consultant Clinical Practice webpage for more information.