Meet our AHPs

From London Ambulance Service to WH
My career began in the London Ambulance Service as a student paramedic. I studied on a modular programme that combined classroom teaching and on-the-job training. I qualified as a paramedic in 2012 and worked on ambulances and fast-response cars before becoming a Clinical Team Leader in the control room. In 2018, while still working in north central London, I saw an advert for an ACP trainee post at the Whittington.

 

Four of us began the training in 2018 and we were the first cohort. For three and a half years we were in training posts, went to university one day a week, worked supernumerary for two days and we also covered shifts on the medical rota.

Becoming a Credentialled ACP
I’ve spent the last three years completing an MSc in Advanced Clinical Practice at London South Bank University. We also followed the Emergency Care ACP curriculum set by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) and undertook work-based assessments with the aim of successfully credentialling at the end. We each had a consultant to mentor us, regular check-ins, 360-feedback and opportunities away from the shop floor to check on progress. It was incredibly demanding, especially in the first 6-12 months of finding our feet, but the four of us held each other up and this peer support was vital. 

 

I’ve now completed the Masters and have successfully credentialled with the RCEM – the first to do so in the ED at WH. I am employed as an ACP and the role supports our Emergency Department. A large part of my job is clinical service provision, but I also line manage trainee ACPs, do rostering and carry out some auditing and governance work. I help with complaints, serious incident investigations and teaching. My role covers the four pillars of ACP from Health Education England’s multi-professional framework, which are clinical practice, education, leadership and management and research.

 

Working Pattern at Whittington Health
Our daytime working hours can be between 8-6.30, 7 days a week and we cover lates and nights. We have rotating shifts, often 3 or 4 a week, and sometimes do 3 nights in a row, followed by a few days off.

Excellent Supervision

It’s a role that challenges you and you shouldn’t underestimate the amount of work you’ll need to do, but you’ll be pushed to be the best clinician you have ever been. If you put in the work, you’ll be rewarded.

 

The role of the ACP is still developing, and I’m interested in shaping a strategy across different directorates and considering how we manage the role in this trust and others. The direction-setting and leadership side is appealing, but I will always want to do clinical work.