September 2017 - elearning for healthcare
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Archive for September, 2017

Improving confidence and developing staff capabilities across NHS mental health settings

Posted on: September 29th, 2017 by Andy Dowden No Comments

Health Education England funded: Breaking Down the Barriers
Improving confidence and developing staff capabilities across NHS mental health settings

Current Situation

The Five Year Forward View for Mental Health, 2016 highlighted that people with mental health problems have poorer physical health than the general population, often they are unable to access the physical healthcare they need and experience unnecessary health inequalities. People with a serious mental illness (SMI) accessing mental health services on an in/outpatient basis and settings do not always have their physical health needs identified, assessed, monitored, managed appropriately or receive timely information and support they need, to adopt a healthier lifestyle. Figures obtained from NHS England in 2016 found more than 8,000 serious incidents were reported by mental health trusts in England the previous year. There has been a steady increase in the numbers of incidents recorded by 58 mental health trusts in England from 6,074 to 8,139 from 2012-2015.

Some of the real challenges mental health trusts experience are competing training course priorities, poor uptake of training, unable to release staff to attend and/or deliver training sessions, trying to fit in training into an already packed programme. UCLPartners commissioned by Health Education England, north, central and east London (NCEL) conducted a needs assessment in 2014 across mental health settings through structured interviews focus groups, questionnaires and surveys to understand the training needs and requirements of staff in a mental health setting.

Key findings from the needs assessment report in relation to current existing and future training needs showed;

  • Over 50% of the doctors across mental health settings surveyed had received less than 2 hours training on managing physical health conditions in the past year
  • 95% of mental health nurses saw physical health related responsibilities as part of their duty, and a majority were currently providing some form of physical health care, despite not having had much training in this area;
  • Nearly 56% of the mental health nurses surveyed were not aware of any training courses on physical health run locally at the trust;
  • 57% of those who had accessed education in physical health during their pre-registration did not feel that it had prepared them to look after the physical health of their patients.

Mental health and mental health and multidisciplinary staff who undertook the needs assessment, highlighted an urgent need for a physical health awareness training every 6 months; preferably of a minimum half day, targeted, face to face training sessions twice a year. The challenge was to provide appropriate and relevant physical health awareness training, resources and delivery modes for mental health staff that met their day to day operational, clinical needs and management of patients with complex care.

What have we done so far?

With the main emphasis on upskilling mental health professionals, UCLPartners facilitated the development of Breaking Down the Barriers (BDtB), the co-creation and delivery of six free, adaptable physical awareness training modules for use across mental health settings and higher education institutes. BDtB physical health training aims to increase overall awareness, improve early identification, assessment management, timely sign-posting and referrals of patients with complex mental and physical health needs. BDtB physical awareness training has been created for delivery in bite sizes, classroom Training is through a mixture of presentations, practical exercises, videos tutorials, case studies, scenarios, quizzes including discussions.

Positive practice: Increasing knowledge and developing capability

Breaking Down the Barriers_Latest News

Dr Sergio Sawh, Emergency Medicine Specialist, Registrar & ED simulation fellow at University College Hospital London, has delivered the highest number of training sessions to clinical and non-clinical staffacross mental health trusts within the NCEL geographical region. Following the success of the training, there has also been a high demand for training from other localities, most recently from South Kensington & Chelsea mental health centre. BDtB training simulation scenarios include the management of the collapsed patient, over-sedation and the practical use of Situation, Background, Assessment and Recommendation (SBAR) communication tool.

Seeing results: what attendees have said following physical awareness training by Dr Sergio Sawh:

“This type of training needs to happen regularly and everyone who is patient-facing should have this training.”

“Training was very eye-opening and made me realise just how much more there is to learn if I am to become confident in managing a patient who has collapsed in my care and at my trust. However, I now feel that I am capable.”

“I enjoyed the scenarios and practical involvement, it has highlighted areas in my practice area where we require essential equipment to deal with medical emergencies.”

“Overall, it’s been a great learning experience as we sometimes get rusty as psychiatrists.”

The diagram below shows pre-and post measurements on knowledge, confidence and practical skill levels of mental health and multidisciplinary staff who attended training.

Breaking Down the Barriers_Latest NewsMental health professionals and multidisciplinary staff are in unique positions to help and empower people with an SMI to improve their physical health. BDtB physical health awareness resources aim to support staff by building on existing skills and knowledge to help reduce risk factors known to adversely affect the physical health of people with an SMI.

Ronke Adejolu, Programme Manager, UCLPartners said “Breaking Down the Barriers is proving reciprocal and collaborative training approach can help build and develop capabilities of staff, hereby reducing serious incidences across mental health trusts.

To access BDtB downloadable training resources please visit; http://www.e-lfh.org.uk/programmes/breaking-downthe-barriers/. For more information, contact Ellen Nelson Ellen.Nelson@uclpartners.com

e-Learning to promote best practice in continence and catheter care

Posted on: September 29th, 2017 by Andy Dowden No Comments

Health Education England elearning for healthcare has worked with Oxford Academic Health Science Network, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Health Education England Thames Valley to develop an elearning programme to promote excellence in continence and catheter care.

Providing high quality continence care is an essential part of nursing care but it is an area that is often not well understood. Urinary incontinence can have a profound impact on a person’s life, often leading to social isolation which can lead to a deterioration in physical and mental health. Poor continence care can exacerbate this. Nursing staff should be able to recognise those who are at risk of being incontinent and support them to maintain their continence. Nurses should also support patients who are incontinent to regain their continence.

This programme, for nursing staff and health care assistants across all settings, aims to improve knowledge and awareness of all aspects of continence and catheter care. The programme includes the different types of incontinence and the therapies and treatments that can be offered to patients. Emphasis will be placed on avoiding catheterisation and on strategies for reducing the risk of catheter acquired urinary tract infection (CAUTI) in situations where catheterisation is unavoidable.

The elearning programme comprises two sessions: “Promoting best practice in continence care” and “Promoting best practice in catheter care”.

To access the elearning please visit: https://www.e-lfh.org.uk/programmes/continence-and-catheter-care/

Changes to Genomics Education Programme online learning

Posted on: September 18th, 2017 by Andy Dowden No Comments

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/

Programme launched to reduce the stigma that patients with alcohol problems face

Posted on: September 15th, 2017 by Andy Dowden No Comments

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/

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