The Multi-professional framework for advanced clinical practice in England, published by in 2017 Health Education England (HEE), NHS England and NHS Improvement, sets out four pillars of practice.
Clincal practice is the first pillar of practice in the framework and is defined as the knowledge, skills and behaviours needed to provide high quality healthcare that is safe, effective and person-centred.
Case study
Sallyanne Lightbrow: private podiatrist
In Sallyanne's words:
"As a generalist podiatrist working in private practice, I feel embedded within my local community. I never know what's coming through the door, which is exciting and keeps my skills broad. It's easy to become stuck in a routine, so I enjoy stepping out into new areas of podiatry, where I can explore my own interests. I actively connect with other podiatrists and AHPs to prevent me from silo-working. The College's Branches are great for networking."
Sallyanne's experience:
Sallyanne reports often acting as a buffer to support GPs and AHPS by seeing clients with general foot problems, providing treatment, or signposting to relevant services. This is a similar concept to the First Contact Practitioner role. Sallyanne summarises this well, highlighting three areas:
- Gatekeeping - keeping clients out of the NHS services by providing frontline treatments and reducing unnecessary referrals
- Educating - providing clients with health promoting advice with their general and foot health to enable these individuals to manage self-care
- Signposting - providing clients with appropriate services or referrals to avoid wasted delays for care or treatments