Neurological rehabilitation (including stroke)

The NHS Long Term Plan and NHS People Plan highlight advanced practice area-specific capabilities as key to accelerating sustainable workforce development and meeting patient care and service delivery needs in specialized areas. Advanced practice roles are essential for optimizing service delivery by enhancing capacity, capability, productivity, and efficiency within interdisciplinary teams.

Addressing Population and Patient Needs

People living with long-term neurological conditions, along with their caregivers and families, face complex challenges in rehabilitation. These include difficulties in accessing timely assessments, receiving clear and relevant information about their condition and care plans, and navigating poorly integrated health and social care services.

Advanced practitioners possess the expertise to manage the high levels of complexity, uncertainty, and risk inherent in neurological rehabilitation. Their skills in communication, problem-solving, clinical reasoning, and critical appraisal make them ideally suited to deliver high-quality, person-centered care, improving health outcomes and quality of life.

This area-specific capability framework outlines the multi-professional skills, knowledge, and behaviors required of advanced practitioners working with individuals living with neurological conditions. It serves as a guide for higher education institutions in designing and delivering advanced practice education while supporting employers, system-level bodies, and practitioners in workforce planning and development.