NEW : UK MSK advanced practice standards

The APPN as part of the Musculoskeletal Partnership Group are pleased to launch the United Kingdom Musculoskeletal (MSK) Advanced Practice Standards (The Standards) with the MSK community.

The Standards outline the minimum knowledge, skills and behaviours required of all clinicians working at advanced practice level in the UK within the MSK specialty, across professions and sub-specialties. They are not aimed at the individual clinician, but are designed to inform and underpin the development and delivery of MSK advanced practice education and training programmes leading to specialisation in MSK practice, provided by higher educational institutes (HEIs) and special interest groups (SIGs) across the UK (post-registration Master’s degree level).

The Standards were developed to support and promote advanced education and practice in MSK and to reduce unwarranted variation in education and practice across the regulated MSK professions and sub-specialties. In so doing, their additional purpose is to enhance the quality of MSK care, uphold patient and clinician safety, and strengthen system-level leadership to benefit populations, patients and services.

The Standards were co-produced via the UK MSK Partnership Group. The Group has broad representation from patient groups/individuals with lived experience, professions specialising in MSK (including medicine), MSK sub-specialties, government arm’s length bodies, professional bodies and other national MSK organisations.

The Standards were co-produced with representation from all four nations of the UK, with the intention that they should have UK-wide currency. By defining the minimum knowledge, skills and behaviours required of MSK advanced practice, they should inform and underpin the design and delivery of education and training programmes and development pathways (e.g. MSc programmes and portfolio routes) in each nation.

The standards can be found at: http://arma.uk.net/msk-advanced-practice/