Name: Maria Barrett Trainee Advanced Clinical Practitioner at Salford Royal Foundation Trust and University of Salford
More dietitians are becoming Advanced Clinical Practitioners (ACP), an exciting development for the profession. There are different types of
ACP roles and different routes into ACP positions. In the first of a short series of profiles, Maria Barrett explains how she got started on her training to become an ACP on the Salford Intestinal Failure Unit.
I qualified 10 years ago and have worked at various Trusts across the UK. I specialised in renal failure for over seven years and then transitioned to the speciality of intestinal failure.
Q. What was expected during the application/ interview process?
The interview included a presentation entitled “As an ACP, what would you bring to the role locally, regionally and nationally”. I was asked questions specific to my speciality and previous clinical impact; what work-based learning means to me; how I would respond to the challenges of this academic undertaking; and what I felt my learning needs would be.
Q What will your main roles and responsibilities be?
My role will include a number of responsibilities that might typically be undertaken by junior or middle-grade doctors. These include conducting physical examinations, ordering and interpreting diagnostic tests, performing clinical procedures (e.g venepuncture, cannulation), formulating treatment plans, coordinating care and prescribing medications.
Q. How will you incorporate your dietetic knowledge and skills into this role?
The role will include little direct dietetic care but instead the ACP knowledge/skills will be layered onto my dietetic knowledge and experience. This is ideally suited to our patient group as we manage patients with complex nutritional needs. In our patients, nutritional optimisation is often achieved by various complex feeding methods and serves as an integral aspect of their clinical treatment and any future surgical plans.