P175 The impact of introducing an assistant practitioner to the health advisor team in a busy urban sexual health service:

Abstract

Background The role of Assistant Practitioner (AP) in the Health Advisor (HA) team is new and has not previously been described. It is unusual in that someone who has not had formal nursing or medical training is able to supply medicines to a patient. Our service set about developing this Agenda for Change band 4 role, with Drug and Therapeutic Committee approval, to support the clinical team. Aim To evaluate the new role now that training is complete. Methods List the tasks undertaken by HA and compare with those now undertaken by the AP. Results Discussion The AP has proved to be a valuable additional role within our service. Rigorous training and robust protocols had to be developed but this now allows her to operate independently. Despite initial reservations about replacing a HA post with an AP of a lower band our clinical team are now supportive of this role and recognise that this delegation of tasks allows time to focus on more complex cases.