Gateshead Health’s Advanced Clinical Practitioner (ACP) in Emergency Medicine, Andrea Swingler has worked in the Trust for nearly four years and has recently achieved the RCEM Advanced Clinical Practitioner credential from the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM).
Andrea completed her portfolio demonstrating that she had met competencies in four key areas: clinical, research, teaching, and leadership. With the help of her supervisor, Jenny Wright, an Emergency Department Consultant the portfolio of evidence was submitted to RCEM and a panel decided that Andrea was meeting all the standards set by RCEM and she became a credentialed ACP. She is the first qualified RCEM at Gateshead Health and this is a fantastic achievement as it highlights that her skill set in emergency care is in line with national standards. Currently, there are 165 RCEM credential ACPs nationally and only a 50% pass rate on the recent intake.
Andrea comments on her achievement:
I am so proud I got through the process. It has been very demanding and has taken a lot of work over three years. I have grown in confidence as a practitioner and have set the bar for advanced practice at Gateshead Health. A huge thank you to my supervisor, Jenny Wright who has put an unbelievable amount of time into getting me through this. She has been a brilliant support. I am really grateful for the consultants, practitioners, nurses, and admin staff support.
As part of this, Andrea has been working on quality improvement projects such as introducing a new medication to the emergency department for calming patients down before a procedure. It has had several benefits including reducing our CO2 emissions, reducing nursing hours for sedation, reducing patient stay in the department, training opportunities for staff, and improving pain relief for patients. This project was recently nominated for a ‘Bright Ideas in Healthcare’ award for the team’s efforts towards net zero.
For Gateshead Health, this means that we have colleagues looking after our patients who are working at a high level with approval from well-known national bodies such as RCEM. As we train more ACPs, they will follow the RCEM process to demonstrate they can look after patients with minor or major injuries, life threatening illness and injuries. This sets a high bar for advanced practice and emergency medicine, ensuring the team is providing high-quality care for our patients.
Congratulations Andrea and thank you for your hard work and dedication to ensure our patients and community receive the best care possible.