Author Archive

Safe prescribing: Foundation update (August 2023)

Posted on: August 1st, 2023 by Kieron Bradshaw No Comments

Welcome to your August 2023 update from the Foundation elearning programme.

Failure to prescribe safely is one of the commonest causes of untoward patient incidents in medical practice. The following sessions support safe practice and include learning on injectable medicines, anticoagulation, antibiotics, prescribing in renal impairment, and other areas of safe medicine use.

Sessions:

The sessions cover areas in your curriculum on

FPC 1: Clinical Assessment

FPC 2: Clinical Prioritisation

FPC3: Holistic Planning

FPC 4: Communication and Care

FPC 5: Continuity of Care Specific Areas of Core Learning High Risk Prescribing Patient Safety

The Foundation elearning programme has been developed specifically for Foundation doctors by the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges in partnership with NHS England elearning for healthcare (NHSE elfh), and is approved by the UK Foundation Programme (UKFPO).

The online training has a range of other sessions that might help you. Please log in to the programme page to view more.

You can sign on to the elearning with your login supplied by elearning for healthcare at any time during your foundation training: https://www.elfh.org.uk/programmes/foundation-programme/

HORUS and TURAS have deep links to elearning for healthcare sessions from the Foundation Curriculum and are therefore accessible to all trainees, making it quicker and easier to access the appropriate session linked to the curriculum.

Marking MR Safety Week

Posted on: July 24th, 2023 by Kieron Bradshaw No Comments

MR safety is important all year round but this week focuses on patient and staff safety and advises on best practice.

The primary hazard in MRI is the very strong magnetic field that is produced by the MR scanner – and remember, for most MR scanners, this magnetic field is always on. There is a risk of metal objects becoming strongly attracted to the scanner forming dangerous projectiles, and implants such as heart pacemakers and aneurysm clips being adversely affected. Such incidents have led to serious injuries and fatalities. Implants and other potential contraindications present risks for patients undergoing MRI, therefore MR units must have policies and procedures in place for minimising these hazards.

There are 2 sessions in our Clinical Imaging elearning programme covering MR safety, which can be found in the module: Introduction to Imaging Technologies.

MR safety is covered in more detail in the MRI Safety programme which is structured around the needs of specific MR safety roles and explores the hazards associated with the use of MR equipment and offers guidance on best practice so as to protect patients and staff.

The Society of Radiographers has produced information leaflets relating to MRI safety for services to download, these include pause and check for MRI , safety information for patients, referrers and ward staff . These are all available on the society of radiographers website policy and guidance document library. Their publication Safety in Magnetic Resonance Imaging outlines the professional responsibilities, training, education and practical safety guidance for departments.

An Introduction to Personal Health Budgets - revised elearning module

Posted on: July 12th, 2023 by Kieron Bradshaw No Comments

The ‘introduction to personal health budgets’ elearning module has been updated. This online training is intended to support all staff who are involved in the delivery of personal health budgets. The module covers a variety of topics including: the legal right to have a PHB, budget management options, and what a PHB can and cannot be spent on. It also offers guidance on the steps involved in implementing and maintaining a PHB, and the key features that ensure people experience the best outcomes possible.

To find out more and access the revised elearning module, visit the Personal Health Budgets elearning page.

Getting the most out of Supervised Learning Events: Foundation update (July 2023)

Posted on: July 10th, 2023 by Kieron Bradshaw No Comments

Welcome to your July 2023 update from the Foundation elearning programme.

Supervised learning events (SLEs) are an essential part of your learning in your 2 foundation years. Even if you think you know how to get the best out of them, you could still get more by doing the SLE elearning sessions whilst you are at the start of the academic year.

The following sessions cover the principles of assessment, through to effective use of feedback, evaluation and case based discussion:

Sessions:

The sessions cover key areas in your curriculum on:

FPC 10: Teaching the teacher

FPC 12: Continuing Professional Development

The Foundation elearning programme has been developed specifically for Foundation doctors by the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges in partnership with NHS England elearning for healthcare (NHSE elfh), and is approved by the UK Foundation Programme (UKFPO).

The online training has a range of other sessions that might help you. Please log in to the programme page to view more.

You can sign on to the elearning with your login supplied by elearning for healthcare at any time during your foundation training: https://www.elfh.org.uk/programmes/foundation-programme/

SCRIPT: supporting safer prescribing practices by healthcare professionals

Healthcare students and professionals can improve their knowledge in prescribing and therapeutics by accessing free elearning through SCRIPT which is designed to meet the continuing professional development needs of those working with medicines and to benefit patient care.

Launched in 2010 by the University of Birmingham and OCB Media, SCRIPT was commissioned by NHS England to provide elearning programmes for foundation doctors and dentists, paediatric trainees, nurses, general practitioners, pharmacists and other non-medical prescribers. The programmes are also appropriate for undergraduate medical, pharmacy and nursing students.

Covering a wide range of therapeutic topics, SCRIPT modules take approximately 60 minutes to complete. Content has been authored by a team of expert healthcare professionals and is reviewed on a regular basis.

Benefits include:

Safer prescribing
SCRIPT will enhance your knowledge and confidence in prescribing correctly, improving patient safety, therapeutics and medicines management.
Professional development
You will receive a certificate for each module that you complete, which can be used in your online learning portfolio.
Flexible learning
SCRIPT is easy to use. You can access the modules at a time which suits you and revisit them even after completion.
SCRIPT elearning is free to those with a NHS.uk or NHS.net address.

SCRIPT elearning resources align to guidance produced by the General Medical Council on good practice in prescribing and managing medicines and devices.

You can learn more about the SCRIPT elearning programme by visiting the SCRIPT website.

Doctors in Training Induction updated for the new academic year

Posted on: July 10th, 2023 by Kieron Bradshaw No Comments

The Doctors in Training (DiT) Induction elearning programme has been reviewed and updated by subject specialists ahead of the new academic year.

DiT is aimed at foundation doctors (F1 and F2) and focuses on professional skills in the workplace through 3 patient journey scenarios, along with an assessment to confirm compliance. Following feedback from practising clinical staff as well as doctors currently in training, sessions from the programme have been updated to improve the experience for learners. It addresses some identified gaps in knowledge for doctors prior to starting their next year on 1 August.

The online training is also suitable for returning doctors and doctors from overseas working in primary care, secondary care and community settings.

The 3 patient journey scenarios are based around areas that doctors in training have highlighted as those they find most challenging. They include:

Blood transfusion and consent
Safe prescribing and venous thromboembolism (VTE)
Mental Capacity Act and death certification

The learning objectives for this programme have been specially written by experts.

More information, including access details, is available on the Doctors in Training Induction page.

Managing heart failure in the community

Posted on: July 6th, 2023 by Kieron Bradshaw No Comments

A new online training session provides a guide to the management of heart failure in the community, focusing on proactively managing symptoms to prevent disease progression and repeated admission to hospital. The session also supports educating patients to monitor and self-manage their condition, and provides an overview of how the multidisciplinary team can work across health sectors to provide effective integrated care for those with heart failure.

The training is part of the Heart Failure and Heart Valve Disease elearning programme, which now contains 12 sessions in total. The elearning programme aims to support multidisciplinary professionals to develop knowledge of diagnosis and the optimisation of management of heart conditions. It is targeted at clinicians in primary and community care settings, including GPs.

To find out more and access the elearning, please visit the Heart Failure and Heart Valve Disease elearning programme page.

Big reception for new Carbon Literacy for Healthcare training

Posted on: June 27th, 2023 by Kieron Bradshaw No Comments

The launch event for our new Carbon Literacy for Healthcare training pathway had a fantastic turn out this month, showcasing just how much carbon literacy is needed across healthcare.

The exciting new learning pathway has been developed in collaboration with the Carbon Literacy Project and Greener NHS, and will allow carbon literacy to become more accessible for NHS staff across all roles. The training is split into 2 steps:

an elearning comprising 5 modules that cover climate science and impacts and policy, before focusing on climate change and health and effective climate communication
in-person or online half-day workshop, with a few short home-based tasks. The workshop will focus on practical emission-saving actions in your workplace setting and will be personalised to your organisation and/or workforce group.

If you are interested in becoming Carbon Literate, initial workshops from WRM are available to book – and Greener NHS has kindly pre-funded some workshop places, making your accreditation free! These spaces are limited so we encourage you to book on now.

Based on feedback from sector trainers who found it challenging for healthcare employees to attend full-day live training sessions, this two-stage approach has been developed. The pathway allows learners to complete the initial three hours of their training at their own pace through elearning, conveniently fitting it into their working schedule. After finishing the online portion, learners will participate in a half-day workshop session to complete their training and gain accreditation to become Carbon Literate.

Here’s what Greener NHS had to say:

“The course will ensure healthcare staff can understand the ways in which climate change poses a major threat to our health as well as our planet. Alongside building the skills and knowledge needed to understand how to take action to help the NHS reach carbon net zero. In addition, it will empower health and care staff to effectively communicate the links between climate change and health to their patients, service users and communities, encouraging them to use lower carbon alternatives where clinically appropriate.”

Here’s what Dr Nick Watts, Chief Sustainability Officer at NHS England had to say about our newest offer:

“It is no surprise that efforts to reduce the NHS carbon footprint are being driven from the ground up. We know as health professionals that the links between climate change and health are starkly clear, and NHS staff overwhelming support our net zero ambition. This new Carbon Literacy course will enable us to upskill the health and care workforce and continue to deliver high-quality healthcare now and for future generations. It will provide learners with accessible training to improve knowledge and skills on how to implement net zero solutions in their everyday practice, whatever their role.”

Recording of launch event

You can find the recording from the launch event on the Carbon Literacy Project YouTube channel, where we hear from guest speakers Peter May and Matthew Sawyer and discuss its importance for NHS organisations.

Accessing training

To find out more and access the training, visit the Carbon Literacy for Healthcare training page.

Updates to our Clinical Imaging elearning programme

Posted on: June 26th, 2023 by Kieron Bradshaw No Comments

Dorothy Keane, Clinical Lead at the Society of Radiographers, gives a brief overview of several updates that have been made to our Clinical Imaging elearning programme. The online training is free to access for healthcare staff and is the ideal resource to support all imaging staff.

To find out more and access the training, visit the Clinical Imaging programme page.

Nasogastric Tube Placement

In 2017, Clinical Imaging developed 2 sessions which covered the main principles of correctly identifying a nasogastric (NG) tube position on a chest radiograph. The sessions were authored by Natasha Hayes who is a radiographer at Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

In April 2023, Natasha kindly reviewed and updated the sessions to include recent data and guidelines from a range of organisations including the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA), Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) and the NHS Never Events data.

Natasha has also increased the number of chest radiographs in the Self Evaluation section to further test your knowledge on identifying correct placement of NG tubes. A big thank you to everyone involved.

Paediatric Imaging

The paediatric sessions in Clinical Imaging have recently been reviewed and updated. The sessions cover the appendicular and axial skeleton and focus on trauma, however common pathologies and normal variants are also included. The Suspected Physical Abuse (SPA) module has also been updated; it comprises of 12 sessions discussing the appearance of SPA on radiographs. The 1st session covers the knowledge and skills needed to recognise SPA. This is followed by 11 interactive case studies to test your understanding where you will decide whether the case is SPA or not.

New Paediatric Self Evaluation module

Self evaluation within Clinical Imaging has always been a major component of our programme. I decided to increase the number of sessions linked to paediatrics and to change the format. We now have 6 sessions covering the axial and appendicular skeleton as it appears on conventional radiographs. Each session is a combination of diagrams and images to label, hot spot questions, images to interpret and many other interactive questions covering anatomy, mechanisms of injury, radiographic technique as well as the interpretation of trauma, pathology and normal variants.

I feel that this update will enable you to complete a more thorough assessment of your skills in paediatric image interpretation.

Learning Disability Nursing CPD Award celebrates addition of higher learning sessions

Posted on: June 19th, 2023 by Kieron Bradshaw No Comments

We are pleased to share that colleagues can now access the full suite of resources within our Learning Disability Nursing CPD Award. Alongside a foundation module that provides core learning, the training now includes modules relating to specialist inpatient settings, community, forensic and intensive support settings, as well as primary and acute care liaison.

The resources have arrived at the perfect time as we mark Learning Disability Week 2023, and supporting this, the new sessions cover topics including person-centred care, formulation, and care planning, which aim to ensure that a person’s wishes, needs and strengths are at the heart of their care plans. The training also supports you to include the person and their family as equal partners in the development of their care and support plans.

Understanding each individual that you care for and their formulation history is key to providing effective support. The additional training sessions can help you to acknowledge a person’s journey into care, particularly when it is specialist care; and support you to understand the nature and development of a person’s condition, including the psychological, biological and systemic factors.

The online training programme is open to anybody with an interest in learning disability nursing. It includes a foundation module that can also be used as refresher training for core knowledge and can help to decrease variances in practice between services. It also provides an opportunity for people from other nursing backgrounds to gain knowledge of the fundamental aspects of learning disability nursing.

This fantastic step forward is part of work to advance a dedicated career structure for learning disability nursing. The training supports the delivery of the All England Plan for Nursing Disability Nursing, and aims to support those thinking about a career in learning disability nursing, as well as those in training and those currently working as a learning disability nurse.

The programme forms a Qualification in Specialism (QiS) to provide a standardised pathway for nurses to develop in their specialist area, and is mapped to the Core Capabilities Framework for Supporting People with a Learning Disability.

The curriculum is also mapped to:

Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC) Code of Conduct to support revalidation
NHS England Learning Disability Improvement Standards
NHS England Long Term Plan
HEE Competency Standards for Learning Disability and Autism

To find out more and to access the training, please visit the Learning Disability Nursing CPD Award programme page.

elfh is a NHS England programme in partnership with the NHS and professional bodies