The MSc Advanced Clinical Practitioner programme is the University of Liverpool’s first Level 7 Apprenticeship. It was developed by the School of Health Sciences in response to requests from local NHS trusts to meet the workforce development needs of staff who are registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) and the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).
Three cohorts of apprentices, approximately 100 in total, have been recruited onto the programme since February 2019 from seven different NHS trusts located across the Merseyside and Cheshire region. The programme currently has apprentices who are registered dietitians, nurses, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, orthoptists and social workers.
COVID-19 response
Once the full extent of the COVID-19 pandemic became apparent in March 2020, the programme team worked closely with the apprenticeship leads from the partner trusts, and the apprentices themselves, to ensure both the needs of the employers and the apprentices were met.
A range of measures were quickly introduced. Online learning and conferencing tools have enabled teaching to continue and supported regular meetings between programme staff and apprentices. The University has also introduced alternative modes of assessment where necessary. Recorded lectures, discussion boards and directed online learning have allowed for a more flexible approach to learning, which has helped to support apprentices.
Geraldine Thomas, Head of Apprenticeships at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital said: “We were so impressed at the speed the University of Liverpool switched to remote learning during the pandemic; this meant that our Apprentices could continue and we didn’t have to worry that their end date was going to be affected. There has been excellent communications throughout the crisis which made me us feel reassured they were taking care of our Apprentices, this has also made the process easier, for those who did take a break in learning, to get back on track!”
Many of the apprentices saw unprecedented changes in their daily working practices because of COVID-19 and their employers activated breaks in learning to allow their staff to focus on their NHS roles. Other trusts felt that individual apprentices still had capacity to remain on programme and that COVID-19 provided an additional opportunity to develop advanced clinical practitioner skills.
Annette Pollitt, Apprenticeship Lead at Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundations Trust said: “Liverpool University Hospitals has worked in partnership with the University to ensure staff on the apprenticeship programme have been supported throughout these challenging times. The scheduling has been learner lead and the focus has been on providing outstanding care to the patients in LUHFT. Together we have a plan of action to resume learning in August 2020.”
The programme team worked tirelessly with each trust to meet these requirements. This work will continue to ensure that apprentices who took a break in learning will be able to re-join the programme to complete all taught modules before progressing onto the End Point Assessment, a key element of all apprenticeship, in September 2021.
Emma Bennett, Clinical Education Lead at Wirral Community Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust: “As part of our Trusts strategic plans we are exceptionally pleased to be working in partnership with the University of Liverpool to support fifteen staff from across our workforce to become Advanced Clinical Practitioners (ACP) via the apprenticeship route. This will subsequently enable us to support transformation of community services in Wirral and contribute to delivery of the Healthy Wirral programme.”
“We have continued to prioritise staff development throughout the pandemic and have worked closely with the University staff and our apprentice ACPs to ensure they remain on programme and continue to receive study time and support as per the apprenticeship framework. This would not have been possible without the engagement and support from The University of Liverpool during this period of significant change, for which we are very grateful. “
Further information
Further detail about the MSc Advanced Clinical Practitioner programme can be found here.