Advanced Clinical Practitioner Lead

This post is only open to internal applicants.

Advanced Clinical Practitioner Lead Band 8b Main area NMC and HCPC registered health care professionals Grade Band 8b Contract 12 months (12 month secondment) Hours Part time - 15 hours per week Job ref 350-TWS

Site V7 Building, Town Prescot Salary £58,972 - £68,525 pro rata Salary period Yearly Closing 20/07/:59 Interview date 04/08/2025



Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust celebrates diversity and promotes equal opportunities; we are committed to challenging and eliminating racism and other forms of discrimination and advancing and promoting equality of opportunity in the provision of services and creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We believe that everyone has the right to be treated with dignity and respect.

We take positive action to support disadvantaged groups and also particularly encourage applications from ethnically diverse, disabled and LGBTQIA+ people that are under-represented in our workforce. Furthermore we welcome applications from reservists and ex-armed forces personnel as we recognise the benefits of the values, skills, training and experience that they bring to their work with us. We encourage all applicants to share their equality information with us.



Job overview We are seeking an experienced and dynamic Advanced Clinical Practitioner to take on a crucial secondment position as Advanced Practice Lead. This is a fantastic opportunity for an experienced and visionary ACP to continue the work already in progress and contribute to the strategic direction and evaluation of advanced clinical practice across Mersey Care.

Main duties of the job The ACP Lead will perform at an advanced level under the core capabilities across the four pillars of Advanced Practice (HEE 2017 Multi-Professional framework) including:

1.Maintain clinical competency within the ACP role, working with staff to support personal development planning, and provide constructive feedback to support improvement.

2.Facilitate delivery of key Trust ACP objectives including job planning, competency framework, peer support forum and to promote high quality safe and effective care and safeguarding practices.

3.Provide leadership and support for supervisors and managers to facilitate assessment of ACPs.

4.Provide one to one clinical support as required.

Opportunity to make a significant contribution to the development of Advanced Clinical Practice.

Opportunity to share expertise and knowledge across the ACP work force.

Professional development opportunity and opportunity to work at a strategic level on cross organisational initiatives.

Regional and National networking.

If a secondment opportunity is sought, you must have your managers written agreement to this prior to applying.

Whilst there is some flexibility in the days worked the role will require commitment to 15hrs per week and attendance at key meetings. Holidays will be calculated on a pro rata basis.

Working for our organisation Mersey Care is one of the largest trusts providing physical health and mental health services in the North West, serving more than 1.4 million people across our region and are also commissioned for services that cover the North West, North Wales and the Midlands.

We offer specialist inpatient and community services that support physical and mental health and specialist inpatient mental health, learning disability, addiction and brain injury services. Mersey Care is one of only three trusts in the UK that offer high secure mental health facilities.

At the heart of all we do is our commitment to 'perfect care' - care that is safe, effective, positively experienced, timely, equitable and efficient. We support our staff to do the best job they can and work alongside service users, their families, and carers to design and develop future services together. We're currently delivering a programme of organisational and service transformation to significantly improve the quality of the services we provide and safely reduce cost as we do so.

Flexible working requests will be considered for all roles.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• Work with key stakeholders to develop the education component of the Trust Advanced Clinical Practitioner Strategy (this will be operationalised as the Mersey Care NHS Trust ACP Education Framework)
• Working with the senior trust management team (divisions) ensure that the ACP education framework is delivered within all Divisions.
• Develop and implement a model of supervision for ACPs (Advanced Clinical Practitioner)
• Ensure appropriate supervision throughout ACP training.
• Identify and support those staff who supervise Trainee ACPs, including establishing monitoring systems and reporting structures.
• Manage the development of a Trust wide ACP Portfolio.
• Manage ACP Supervisors in practice.
• Support annual scoping by NHS England.
• Support preparation for OFSTED Apprentice Advanced Clinical Practice.
• Act as the strategic link between the Trust and HEIs to ensure HEI programmes meet the needs of the organisation, and learners are supported in the Trust to meet the programme requirements.
• Act as strategic link with HEE ACP faculty, sharing best practice and acting as a conduit to share other organisations best practice within the Trust.
• Manage funding for ACP training and continued development.

Education and Research Role:

• Co-ordinate practice-based learning for learners on ACP programmes.
• Manage an appropriate information system to collate, store and retrieve data on learner progression and experience.
• Develop and implement systems which identify positive practice and areas for concern for escalation.
• Be responsible for ensuring that trainee ACPs receive the appropriate supervision throughout their training, including the implementation and delivery of regular forums for ACPs in training.
• Lead the development/commissioning and implementation of specific supervisor, educator programme for clinical supervisors of ACP learners (as defined in HEE Workplace Supervision for Advanced Clinical Practice)
• Promote a research culture amongst the ACP workforce. Encourage research activity, publication, and conference presentation to highlight ACP output.
• Network with local HEI's to collaborate with ACP research and encourage higher level of study - PhD Scholarships.
• Represent the trust at external meetings in relation to ACP; learners/ supervisors.
• Working with Trust Preceptorship Leads develop and implement a model of preceptorship for new ACPs.
• Lead the evaluation of the ACP preceptorship programme upon implementation.
• Work with qualified ACPs to understand their on-going CPD (Continued Professional Development) requirements to ensure that all four pillars of the role are met and put in place education and training provision to meet these needs (including commissioning from external providers where necessary).
• Facilitate the development of the learning environment to include supervision, coaching and programmes that support newly qualified ACPs.
• Coordinate trust conferences and forums for ACPs to share best practice and network.
• Through evaluation and audit regularly review outcomes and impact related to ACP education and the ACP role, including impact on patient care and patient outcomes.
• Assess and monitor the appropriateness of learning programmes to meet the needs of the organisation and the recommendations of national policy.
• Ensure efficient use of resources and budgetary management within the Advanced Practice Lead remit.
• Attend external contractual monitoring meetings (NHSE) at regular intervals.
• The post holder will be responsible in ensuring divisions to prioritise and manage allocated ACP funding.

Leadership Role:

• Provide a high standard of leadership, advice and support to ACP supervisors in relation to all aspects of Advanced Clinical Practice standards and core capabilities.
• Influence the strategic direction of the ACP role internally to the Trust and wider.
• Contribute to overall success of ACP workforce through strong leadership and development of others.
• Act as an expert providing advice and guidance to site-based stakeholders.
• Facilitate a coordinated approach to the use of ACPs across the trust.
• Provide trust-wide advocacy, promotion, and education of the ACP role.
• Provide expert guidance to divisions to how ACP roles could work within their services as part of wider workforce planning and workforce transformation.
• Develop and implement policies and guidance on how the ACP role should be used in the trust, to be developed with colleagues across the trust.
• Provide a set of principles for the recruitment and selection process for ACP programmes and roles.
• Review the effectiveness of ACP roles in practice across the trust and make recommendations as to how their benefit can be maximised.
• Collaborate with HEIs in developing curricula that respond to current and future service needs as identified within workforce planning.
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