Please note that the elearning for healthcare (elfh) Hub will be unavailable from 8:00am on Tuesday 19 December 2017 for a period of one hour. As part of our ongoing commitment to improving the efficiency and performance of the Hub, this update includes database changes and improvements; hence the extended downtime to apply this update.

Apologies for any inconvenience this period of downtime may cause.

Health Education England elearning for healthcare has added a new module – Five Ways to Wellbeing – to its Making Every Contact Count elearning programme.

In 2008, the New Economics Foundation (NEF) developed the ‘Five Ways to Wellbeing’ framework – a set of evidence-based actions to improve people’s wellbeing. These five actions are:

• Give
• Be active
• Keep learning
• Connect
• Take notice.

The Five Ways to Wellbeing elearning module is for anyone using Making Every Contact Count. It introduces the concept of wellbeing and describes how the Five Ways to Wellbeing can be implemented in a variety of settings to promote it.

On completion of the Five Ways to Wellbeing module learners should be able to define the term “wellbeing” and appreciate the links between wellbeing and health.  The module also provides learners with information about the five ways to wellbeing and how they can be used to promote health and wellbeing.  This module is part of the Making Every Contact Count elearning programme.

Making Every Contact Count is an approach to behaviour change that utilises the millions of day-to-day interactions that organisations and people have with other people to support them in making positive changes to their physical and mental health and wellbeing.

Making Every Contact Count enables the opportunistic delivery of consistent and concise healthy lifestyle information and enables individuals to engage in conversations about their health at scale across organisations and populations. Drawing on behaviour change evidence, the approach maximises the opportunity within routine health and care interactions for a brief or very brief discussion on health and wellbeing factors.

A Making Every Contact Count interaction takes a matter of minutes and is not intended to add to the busy workloads of healthcare professionals and the wider workforce, rather it is structured to fit into and complement existing professional clinical, care and social engagement approaches.

The wider Making Every Contact Count elearning programme is designed to support learners in developing an understanding of public health and the factors that impact on a person’s health and wellbeing, emphasising how asking questions and listening effectively to people is a vital role for us all.

To access the free Making Every Contact Count elearning programme, including the recently added Five Ways to Wellbeing, please click here: https://www.e-lfh.org.uk/programmes/making-every-contact-count/

Health Education England elearning for healthcare (HEE elfh) has worked with a range of subject matter experts to develop elearning training sessions, which address the learning outcomes at Level 1 and Level 2 of the UK Core Skills Training Framework (CSTF).  This work is now complete and the elearning sessions are available for free to all health and social care staff.

The UK CSTF sets out 10 statutory and mandatory training topics for all staff working in health and social care settings. The CSTF includes nationally agreed learning outcomes and training delivery standards.

The statutory and mandatory training has been redesigned as short and interactive elearning sessions which include scenarios, case studies and knowledge checks. Each session takes about 20 minutes to complete and can be accessed on laptops, tablets and mobiles.

The following elearning sessions and accompanying eAssessments are now available:

• Fire Safety and Fire Safety eAssessment – Level 1
• Equality, Diversity and Human Rights and Equality and Diversity and Human Rights eAssessment – Level 1
• Health, Safety and Welfare and Health, Safety and Welfare eAssessment – Level 1
• Infection Prevention and Control and Infection Prevention and Control eAssessment – Levels 1 and 2
• Conflict Resolution and Conflict Resolution eAssessment – Level 1
• Moving and Handling – Level 1 and Moving and Handling eAssessment – Levels 1 and 2
• Data Security Awareness and Data Security Awareness eAssessment – Level 1 (previously listed as Information Governance)
• Preventing Radicalisation and Preventing Radicalisation eAssessment – Levels 1 and 2
• Resuscitation and Resuscitation eAssessment – Level 1
• Resuscitation Adult and Resuscitation Adult eAssessment – Level 2
• Resuscitation Paediatric and Resuscitation Paediatric eAssessment – Level 2
• Resuscitation Newborn and Resuscitation Newborn eAssessment – Level 2
• Safeguarding Adults and Safeguarding Adults eAssessment – Levels 1 and 2
• Safeguarding Children and Safeguarding Children eAssessment – Levels 1 and 2.

The Data Security Awareness and Data Security Awareness eAssessment – Level 1 are aligned to the new data security standards that came out of the National Data Guardian’s 2016 review.  They therefore meet the requirement for Level 1 staff training in data security.  These resources have been developed as part of a collaborative project with NHS Digital.

The new Safeguarding Children Level 2 course has been updated so its style and format is consistent with the other statutory and mandatory elearning courses.  This has resulted in a reduction in the number of sessions and the primary and secondary care sessions (previously listed as Level 2a and 2b) have been combined into one session and accompanying eAssessment.

For learners who are confident in any of the subject areas, there is the option to proceed straight to the eAssessment without completing the elearning session. The training record will be updated with the eAssessment score. However, if a certificate is required as evidence of completion, both the eAssessment and knowledge session need to be completed.

It is the responsibility of individual health and social care employer organisations to ensure their workforce complete the appropriate training to comply with their statutory and mandatory requirements. It is also an employer’s responsibility to determine the best mode of delivering the training, whether that is face-to-face, elearning or a blended approach.

How to access

To access the free elearning sessions please follow this link: https://www.e-lfh.org.uk/programmes/statutory-and-mandatory-training/

The new versions of the Statutory and Mandatory sessions now support the AICC communication standard. This allows for remote Learning Management Systems (LMS) to launch the sessions from our content server as if they were loaded locally. Enrolment and tracking of usage is retained at the organisation’s LMS.  If your local LMS supports AICC, please contact our support desk, by emailing support@e-lfh.org.uk, and we will provide you with the relevant links and instructions to set up courses.

Making Child and Adolescents Learning Disabilities awareness a priority across GP practices

Current situation

In 2011, Public Health England (PHE) reported that 286,000 child and young people under 18 years old in England have a Learning Disability (LD). Children and adolescents with learning disabilities, are six times more likely to have a diagnosable mental health condition than those without (Emerson & Hatton 2007) and are more likely to experience mental health difficulties such as anxiety or low moods. One of the main barriers in identifying and diagnosing physical and mental health problems in children with LD is communication failure.

The challenge

Identifying the needs of children and young people with learning disabilities within primary care settings is integral to the effective and efficient assessment, management and delivery of care. The challenge was to upskill the primary care staff in this area. The package which constitutes one of the key resources of the Breaking Down the Barriers (BDtB) training package includes a combination of different training and communication techniques which could be sustainably used.

Addressing the problem

UCLPartners was commissioned by Health Education England, north, central and east London (NCEL) to conduct a needs assessment in 2014 across GP practices and primary care settings. We discovered a clear need and keen desire from GP practice staff to increase mental and physical health awareness, knowledge and basic skills in the management of children and adolescents with learning disabilities. UCLPartners has facilitated the co-creation, in partnership with North East London NHS Foundation Trust (NELFT), of free learning disabilities awareness training resources for use across GP practices, primary care multidisciplinary staff. Resources have been developed as flexible taught modules, delivered in bite-sizes through a mixture of presentations, practical exercises, videos tutorials, case studies, scenarios, quizzes and discussions. Dr Bini Thomas (right, top), Consultant Psychiatrist in Learning Disabilities, Simulation Lead & Dr Kala Shanmugananda (right, bottom), Consultant Community Paediatrician, both from NELFT, have been actively leading the way in delivering training sessions across the north-east London geographical region to promote and increase awareness in this area. Their exceptional and interactive training approach has had a lasting impact on all participants who have attended their sessions.

How NELFT’s approach is supporting management learning disabilities services across GP practices

NELFT’s innovative approach focuses on proactively enabling GPs to identify and manage children and young people with intellectual disabilities presenting with complex health concerns including mental health effectively. This involves having allocated LD nurses working with GP clusters as a main point of contact. NELFT has also led the way in managing transitions for children and young people with complex mental and physical health needs by ensuring awareness training is a key priority. They also have a clear transition pathway, a designated professional for signposting and working in collaboration with the client and their families.

The key targets:

• Creating awareness among GPs and practice staff regarding mental health in children and young people with learning disabilities to improve the management of care, outcomes and patient experience

• Facilitate the delivery of initial “Train the trainer” sessions to increase training delivery capacity and competency across settings to ensure sustainability and transformation and thereby having an impact on physical and mental health outcomes and better experience for children and adolescents with learning disabilities.

Seeing results

Constantinos Petrides, Paediatric Registrar attended one of the BDtB child and adolescents learning disabilities “Train the Trainer” sessions this year and says this is an excellent and much needed course, pitched at the right level, suitable for health and social care professionals. He found the session provided him with invaluable knowledge and incredible insight into the experiences of professionals (nurses, psychologists, practice managers, GPs and parents) in the assessment and management of children and adolescents with LD across primary care settings.

The Director of Medical Education at NELFT, Dr Mohan Bhat, has also received excellent feedback from staff who have attended this training and have found materials adaptable to local needs.

To facilitate capability building, sustainability and maintain training delivery across GP practices, BDtB has facilitated the provision and delivery of a number of “Train the Trainer” sessions. We have also developed a certified trainer list for localities to draw on. This will help attendees to attend refresher sessions to maintain their knowledge, confidence and practical skills.

Highlighted in the table below, findings and results following the initial roll-out of child and adolescent mental health and learning disabilities training across primary care shows a tremendous impact. We’ve found this is encouraging more GPs and practice managers to make provisions to ensure BDtB training is part of their core curriculum.

Ronke Adejolu, Programme Manager at UCLPartners, said “Breaking Down the Barriers awareness training is an excellent example of partnership working can help invest in and develop the capability and capacity of the NHS primary care workforce.”

For certified trainers to support further delivery of training across GP practice and GP VTS programme in the NCEL geographical region is available here. Access and download training resources here. For more information, please visit bit.ly/UCLPBreakingBarriers Or contact Ellen.Nelson@uclpartners.com.

New online programme set to enhance traditional learning, support existing teaching methods and provide a valuable reference point for a wide audience

Three of the Genomics Education Programme (GEP) courses; 100,000 Genomes Project: Preparing for the Consent Conversation, Introduction to Bioinformatics and Sample Processing & DNA Extraction are now available through the elearning for healthcare (elfh) and eIntegrity platforms.

As genomic medicine moves beyond specialist clinics and into mainstream patient care, the GEP courses have been made available through these elearning platforms to create a comprehensive online genomics education and training hub available for healthcare professionals both nationally and internationally.

Access to online courses

All NHS staff and GEP partners (including university partners) will continue to access the courses free of charge via the elearning for healthcare (elfh) hub. Non-NHS staff can also continue to temporarily access the courses free of charge through elfh, however there will be a small charge after the temporary period ends and users must register with eIntegrity to continue to access the courses.

Over the coming months more GEP courses will be migrated onto the genomics education and training hub to meet the growing demand. All other tools and resources will continue to be available on the Genomics Education Programme website.

To access the resources please visit: https://www.e-lfh.org.uk/programmes/genomics-education-programme/

Health Education England elearning for healthcare (HEE elfh) has worked with the Health Innovation Network South London, the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College London to develop an elearning programme for NHS healthcare professionals that aims to reduce the stigma encountered by patients with alcohol problems.

A powerful new film complements the elearning package to reduce the stigma that patients with alcohol problems face.

Using emotional and thought-provoking real stories voiced by patients alongside a practical package of training materials including facilitator’s notes, the elearning programme is a valuable resource for frontline professionals.

Having a better understanding of alcohol dependency may help healthcare professionals to improve longer-term outcomes for patients with alcohol dependency.

This elearning programme will be of interest to health and social care staff who come in to contact with patients with alcohol problems, whether that is in hospital, primary care or community settings.

Sometimes people with alcohol problems can be stereotyped, and judged to be less worthy of excellent treatment and care. Such stigma can be a barrier to help-seeking. It also impacts on treatment outcomes and diminishes patients’ feelings of empowerment.

Frontline health and social care staff regularly come into contact with patients with alcohol problems. While a small group of healthcare professionals are specifically trained in addictions or alcohol, many frontline staff will have received little or no specialist training in this area. The new national NHS Commissioning for Quality and Innovation (CQUINs) payments framework for 2017-19 incentivises certain secondary healthcare clinicians to enquire about patients’ alcohol use, leading to possible brief intervention or referral to appropriate care.

The elearning programme includes a mix of resources including a thought-provoking film reflecting on some service user experiences, facilitator’s notes for group or face to face delivery of the training (recommended) and also a shorter online version for individuals keen to learn about this, who do not have access to the group training.

To access the free Alcohol Stigma elearning programme and to view the film please click https://www.e-lfh.org.uk/programmes/alcohol-stigma/

Health Education England elearning for healthcare (HEE elfh) has worked with Public Health England (PHE) to update the Alcohol Identification and Brief Advice (Alcohol IBA) elearning programme which helps professionals deliver simple advice to individuals whose drinking might impact their health.

The Alcohol IBA courses are available for delivery in four settings:

* Primary Care
* Community Pharmacy
* Hospitals
* Dental Teams.

The elearning resources teach learners how to use World Health Organisation validated tools to identify patients’ levels of health risk from alcohol and how to intervene appropriately with those who could benefit from reducing their alcohol consumption.

Use of IBA is recognised as a contributor to Making Every Contact Count (MECC) and is a feature in the NHS Health Check, CQUIN programmes and efficiency savings programmes.

The overall goal of the Alcohol IBA elearning programme is to enable the learner to effectively engage with non-dependent alcohol misusing patients, who may not realise they may be taking risks with their health.

Each of the courses aimed at primary care, community pharmacy and hospital settings is split into four elearning sessions:

1. Alcohol Facts
2. Introducing IBA and Identifying Risky Behaviour
3. Practising IBA and delivering brief advice
4. Assessment

The course aimed at dental teams consists of four sessions:

1. Facts about Alcohol
2. Identification and Brief Alcohol Advice (IBA) for Dental Teams
3. Practising AUDIT-C
4. Assessment

The Alcohol IBA elearning resources are available for free to all NHS staff as well as being available via OpenAthens and via PHE’s Alcohol Learning Resources website. For more information and to access the elearning sessions click here.