Transforming Roles paper 9: allied health professions advanced practice
Guidance for developing Allied Health Professions (AHP) advanced practice roles in Scotland. Outlines policy context, role definition, education pathways, governance, and impact metrics to support consistent, sustainable workforce transformation across health and social care.
Appendix 1: Abbreviations and Glossary of Terms
Abbreviations
AfC: Agenda for Change
AHP: Allied Health Professions
CAHPO: Chief Allied Health Professions Officer
CPD: Continuing Professional Development
GIRFE: Getting It Right For Everyone
GP: General Practitioner
HEIs: Higher Education Institutions
HCPC: Health and Care Professions Council
KSB: Knowledge, Skills and Behaviours
MSK: Musculoskeletal
NES: NHS Education for Scotland
NHS: National Health Service
NMaHP: Nursing, Midwifery and Health Professions
NMAHP: Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professions
OIP: Operational Improvement Plan
PHF: Population Health Framework
SAS: Scottish Ambulance Service
SCQF: Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework
SRF: Health & Social Care Service Renewal Framework
Glossary of terms
Award of master’s level credit: Recognition of the successful completion of assessed modules or equivalent learning at postgraduate level. Such credit is benchmarked against the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) at Level 11 and reflects the volume, level, and outcomes of learning achieved.
Source: SCQF Interactive Framework: Level 11[67]
Capability: The ability to be competent, and beyond this, to work effectively in situations which may be complex and require more flexibility and creativity.
Source: Core Capabilities Framework for Advanced Clinical Practice (Nurses) Working in General Practice/Primary Care in England[91]
Clinical: Any individual or population healthcare intervention or service requiring assessment, planning, provision, evaluation or oversight by a registered healthcare professional.
Source: Clinical governance standards[28]
Clinical governance: A system through which NHS organisations are accountable for continuously improving the quality of their services and safeguarding high standards of care by creating an environment in which excellence in clinical care will flourish.
Source: Clinical governance standards[28]
Clinical risk: The chance of an adverse outcome resulting from clinical investigation, treatment or patient care.
Source: Chief Medical Officer’s Annual Report[92]
Competence: To consistently perform to defined standards required in the workplace, usually focused on the outputs of work and observable performance. Competence tends to describe practice in stable environments with familiar problems.
Source: Core Capabilities Framework for Advanced Clinical Practice (Nurses) Working in General Practice/ Primary Care in England[91]
Metrics: A collection of measurements used to evaluate performance or outcomes.
Recognition of prior learning: The process through which practitioners can gain recognition from an education provider for learning that they have previously acquired (whether through formal educational activity or work-based professional development) if they can demonstrate and evidence the equivalence and currency of their learning.
Source: Centre credential approval and assurance process[93]
Workforce transformation: A process, driven by improving the way we recruit, retain, deploy, develop and continue to support the healthcare workforce, to meet the growing and changing needs of local populations — ensuring high-quality care for the patients of today and the future.
Source: Workforce Transformation[94]
Contact
Email: cno@scot.gov