ACPs come from a range of professional backgrounds such as nursing, pharmacy, paramedics and occupational therapy.
They are healthcare professionals educated to Master’s level and have developed the skills and knowledge to allow them to take on expanded roles and scope of practice caring for patients.
What can Advanced Clinical Practitioners help with?
Advanced clinical practitioners in primary care work alongside the GPs so they have a similar workload but tend to see less complex patients.
They can help with a range of health care and issues, such as:
- Urgent health concerns.
- Chronic long-term conditions:
- COPD
- Heart problems
- Arthritis
- Stomach issues
- Acute problems:
- Infections
- Pain management
- Follow up appointments
What are the benefits of Advanced Clinical Practitioners?
The advantage of having advanced clinical practitioners is that they can free up GP time to deal with more complex patients.
This means they can spend more time with you to investigate ongoing health concerns.
If there’s something they aren’t able to resolve, they can discuss this further with the GP or refer you for more complex investigations and further advice and support.
However, you can always go back to the advanced clinical practitioner to be part of your health and care journey.