£500k Funding Boost Opens up Places on Masters Degree For Allied Health Professionals

Community healthcare professionals looking to gain advanced clinical skills can take advantage of £500,000 of funding which has been made available to improve NHS care in Wales.

Wrexham Glyndwr University is now accepting applications for its MSc Advanced Clinical Practice course, following the announcement of a new Welsh Government support package for community healthcare.

The course enables qualified professionals to gain advanced skills for making autonomous decisions in complex and unpredictable clinical situations.

Employees working in nursing, midwifery and allied health professions can study for the qualification part-time over three years, with 50% of the course based in the university and the rest on placement.

Nurses, paramedics, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, dieticians, podiatrists and speech and language therapists are among the professions eligible to apply.

Joanne Pike, senior lecturer in nursing at Wrexham Glyndwr University, said: “Developing advanced clinical skills is at the heart of the course and that’s why all of our students are given experience in these from day one. They’re then able to develop and strengthen them for the rest of the course alongside leadership and research skills.

“Professionals with advanced clinical skills will make a difference in the NHS by supporting the health service’s key driver which is to look after more people within the community and prevent admission to hospital.”

Students joining the course should hold a degree in their relevant discipline alongside professional registration and a minimum two years full time equivalent post-registration clinical experience. To access Welsh Government funding, students need to be working in Wales as well.

The funding for community healthcare is part of a £95 million investment to train healthcare professionals in Wales announced by Health Secretary, Vaughan Gething.

He said: “We rely on the skills, knowledge and experience of those providing the care in the NHS on a daily basis. This includes nurses and paramedics as well as those behind the scenes, who provide vital support services such as laboratory tests to enable diagnoses to be made and treatment to be provided.

“Education and training is fundamental to ensuring the sustainability of our workforce.

“This £95m investment will ensure that our healthcare professionals are able to provide high quality care now and in the future and that patients will be able to receive care closer to home.”

Further information can be found on the Wrexham Glyndwr University website.