About the Frailty programme
This elearning programme aims to standardise training and knowledge of frailty as a complex multi-system, long term condition. This education programme is compliant with the ‘Frailty, A framework of core capabilities’ (2018). There are different tiers, depending on the level of skills and knowledge.
Tiers 1, 2a and 2b have been developed by the London Clinical Network for Frailty in collaboration with Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and Wessex Academic Health Science and have been funded through Health Education England’s Urgent and Emergency Care Workforce Collaborative for London.
Tier 3 has been developed by the British Geriatrics Society and is funded by the BGS and NHS England.
The main aims for this programme are:
- To promote a common language in frailty care
- To support enhanced clinical skills and competencies
- To support health and social care staff to deliver improved health outcomes for people living with frailty
Ensuring that the workforce have knowledge of frailty is important for the delivery of consistent best practice outcomes and personalised experience. This programme aligns with the national and regional Ageing Well programme.
More Information
The programme is split into different tiers, please choose the course level that most meets needs and role expectations.
Completing Tier 2a and Tier 2b will support staff to identify frailty and then contribute to a holistic, person centred assessment and intervention to address frailty needs.
Tiers 1, 2a and 2b explore the the multi-system complexity of frailty via the Geriatric 5Ms:
- Mind
- Mobility
- Medications
- Multi-complexity
- Matters most
All these elements are important for the holistic care of older adults in any setting.
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Tier 1 - general public
Tier 1 - general public
Tier 1 is designed to meet the learning needs of the general public. The Tier 1 learning module provides an awareness and understanding of what frailty is; how it is identified; frailty management and support available.
This includes but is not limited to:
- General public
- Social prescribers
- Third sector staff
- Porters
- Security staff
- Reception staff in primary, secondary and community services
Access Tier 1 training course here.
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Tier 2a - unregistered staff and band 5 general clinicians
Tier 2a - unregistered staff and band 5 general clinicians
This level of training is for registered and unregistered staff and others who are working in general health settings.
This includes but is not limited to:
- First responders such as London Ambulance Service, Hatszola Trust, St Johns Ambulance service, Good Samaritan volunteers, London Air Ambulance service
- Urgent community response workforce such as rapid response nurses, community matrons, rapid response allied health professionals and pharmacists
- Care navigators
- Unregistered healthcare staff at band 2 to 5
- Band 5 registered nurses
- Doctors in emergency departments
- Pharmacist technicians
- Nursing associates
- Physician associates
- Community and social services staff
- Care home staff
Workforce completing Tier 2a are expected to be able to utilise this knowledge to support screening for frailty identification and then contribute to a holistic, person centred assessment and intervention to address frailty needs.
Access Tier 2a training course here.
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Tier 2b - senior health and social care staff
Tier 2b - senior health and social care staff
This level of training is for senior health and social care staff and others who are working in emergency departments and other general health settings.
This includes but is not limited to:
• GPs
• Registrars and senior grade doctors in emergency departments
• Consultant physicians
• Acute care social workers
• Registered nurses band 6 and above
• Occupational therapists, physiotherapists, speech and language therapists, and dieticians
• Band 7 and 8 pharmacists
• Emergency department advanced nurse practitioners
• Same day emergency care (SDEC) workforceWorkforce completing Tier 2b are expected to be able to utilise this knowledge to support screening for frailty identification and then contribute to a holistic, person centred assessment and intervention to address frailty needs.
Access Tier 2b training course here.
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Tier 3 - frailty and older adult specialists
Tier 3 - frailty and older adult specialists
This is a comprehensive in-depth resource on frailty in older people. It is aimed at health and social care professionals who provide care and services for older people living with frailty. This Tier 3 Module was developed by the British Geriatrics Society, in collaboration with experts across the four nations and NHS England. It is available to access free of charge until June 2024 via the BGS website: Tier 3 frailty training.
Tier 3 professionals have “a high degree of autonomy, able to provide care in complex situations and who may also lead services for people living with frailty,” and can include the following:
- Frailty practitioners
- Virtual ward frailty pathway workforce
- Older adult specialist health and social care staff
- Geriatricians
Access to the course is free for all healthcare professionals.
Achieving 80% or higher from the assessment modules results in course certification. The course carries 10 CPD hours/credits of distance learning from the RCP (London).
Course modules
Course learning is divided into four modules:
- Module 1: Understanding and Communicating Frailty
- Module 2: Identifying Frailty
- Module 3: Managing those living with Frailty
- Module 4: Building Systems Fit for Frailty
You can access Tier 3 frailty training from the British Geriatrics Society.
Please note; linking from the NHS England website
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Acknowledgements
- Melinda Williamson – Clinical Project Manager, Clinical Network Frailty, NHS England and NHS Improvement-London Region, Frailty Practitioner, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
- Rebecca Gow – Interim Rehabilitation Pathway Lead, Community Independence Service (CIS) Kensington & Chelsea. Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust
- John Young – Reader/Associate Professor in Translational Medicine & Deputy Director, Institute of Biomedical and Biomolecular Sciences University of Portsmouth (part of Wessex AHSN collaboration)
- Paul Gallagher – MRCPsych MSc ST6 Psychiatrist. Mile End Hospital. East London NHS Foundation Trust
- Anne McGinley – Frailty Practitioner Pharmacist. Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
- Jennifer Stevenson – PhD Clinical Lecturer/Integrated Care Pharmacist. Clinical Pharmacy and Medicines Use Group. Institute of Pharmaceutical Science. King’s College London
- Helen Bristow, John Kingand Marite Austrins – Patient and Public Voice team, Clinical Network Frailty, NHS England and NHS Improvement- London Region
- Carly Wilson – Clinical Matron for frailty, Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (part of Wessex AHSN collaboration)
- Sawsen Sabbah – Lead Frailty Pharmacist, Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (part of Wessex AHSN collaboration)
Meet the team
Catherina Nolan
Senior Clinical Project Manager, London Clinical Network for Frailty, NHS England and NHS Improvement
Catherine Sendall
Frailty Clinical Programme Manager, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
Cheryl Davies
Programme Manager for Healthy Ageing, Wessex AHSN
Bettina Wan
Clinical Director, London Clinical Network for Frailty, NHS England and NHS Improvement
Shaun Crowe
Head of Clinical Network Development, NHS England and NHS Improvement – London
Patricia Howe
Programme Manager - Technology Enhanced Learning, NHS England
Moz Cammack
Project Manager - Technology Enhanced Learning, NHS England
Wendy Lowe
Lead Learning Designer - Technology Enhanced Learning, NHS England
Runam Prasad
Learning Designer - Technology Enhanced Learning, NHS England
Simon Blackmore
Learning Designer - Technology Enhanced Learning, NHS England
Simon Perkins
Learning Designer - Technology Enhanced Learning, NHS England
Paul Kelly
Learning Designer - Technology Enhanced Learning, NHS England
Catherine Moran
Graphic Designer - Technology Enhanced Learning, NHS England
Hannah Denness
Communications and Stakeholder Officer - Technology Enhanced Learning, NHS England
How to access
Available to all
The Frailty programme is freely available to access here.
Please note your progress and completion of sessions will not be recorded and you will not be able to generate a record of completion. If you require evidence of learning, please register and then log in to access this programme on the elearning for healthcare Hub.
If you already have an account with elfh, then you can enrol on to the Frailty programme by logging in to the elearning for healthcare Hub, selecting My Account > Enrolment and selecting the programme. You can then access the programme immediately in the My elearning section.
To view the Frailty programme, select the View button below. If you already have an account with elearning for healthcare, you will also be able to login and enrol on the programme from the View button.
Gain CPD points and continue your personalised care learning experience.
This programme forms part of the Personalised Care Institute’s library of personalised care training for all health and care professions. If you would like to obtain a certificate and CPD points for your ongoing CPD records, and learn a lot more about personalised care, then please visit the Personalised Care Institute website to register and access.
NHS healthcare staff in England
The Frailty programme is also available to NHS healthcare staff via the Electronic Staff Record (ESR). Accessing this elearning via ESR means that your completions will transfer with you throughout your NHS career.
Further details are available here.
Registering large numbers of users
If you are in Human Resources, Information Technology or a Practice Manager and would like to register and enrol large numbers of staff within your organisation for access onto the Frailty programme, please contact elearning for healthcare directly.
Organisations wishing to use their own Learning Management System
For Human Resource departments wanting to know more about gaining access to courses using an existing Learning Management System please contact elearning for healthcare directly to express interest.
More information
Please select the following link for more information on how to use the elearning for healthcare Hub.