ACCPs | Newcastle upon Tyne | Newcastle Critical Care

Advanced Critical Care Practitioners (ACCPs)

Advanced Critical Care Practitioners (ACCP’s) are part of the critical care team on wards 18, 38, 37 & 21 , undertaking specific roles that have traditionally been associated with the medical staff. At present, entrants into this role are from established nursing and physiotherapy professions, although this may expand in the future. ACCP training requires intensive theoretical and clinical teaching which is delivered by recognised Higher Education Institutions and by the Newcastle intensive care units themselves. The combination of completing an appropriate 2 year Post Graduate Diploma or 3 year Masters degree (both of which include a non-medical prescribing qualification) and clinical training through the ACCP programme have resulted in experienced, rounded and knowledgeable practitioners who have all been awarded FICM Associate Status. This is because the training programme is aligned to the FICM Curriculum (2015), which provides a core set of competencies required for all ACCP’s.

ACCP’s have been working on rotas alongside their medical colleagues within NUTH since 2011 and, in addition to their care of patients, ACCP’s take on clinical and educational roles that support and complement both the medical staff and the wider critical care team. The Newcastle intensive care units have encouraged and trained their ACCP’s to perform further tasks and complex procedures relevant to the clinical case mix and requirements of each intensive care unit. As a result, ACCP’s are taking on increasingly senior roles within the multi-disciplinary team and are integral to the function of the intensive care units.