About the Long COVID programme

Long COVID and post-COVID syndrome is an emerging condition and one about which we are continuing to learn more. Originally a single session providing an introduction to this condition, Health Education England elearning for healthcare (HEE elfh) in partnership with Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust have developed further resources for clinicians. These are especially for those who have contact with long COVID patients, but are not working in a Specialist Post-COVID Assessment and Treatment Service.

The programme includes 3 sessions:

Session 1: Introduction to Long COVID and Post-COVID Syndrome

This session provides an introduction to long COVID, looking at its definition, common symptoms, investigations, as well as the impact it has on adults and children.

Session 2: Living with Long COVID

This session discusses the complex variety of peoples’ lived experiences of long COVID and highlights how holistic healthcare management can assist in the care of these patients.

Session 3: Managing Symptoms of Long COVID

This session explores some of the common symptoms of long COVID. For each symptom you will explore the pathophysiology, red flags, assessment and holistic management interventions. It builds on the knowledge gained from Session 1, whilst using the holistic management principles explored in session 2.

Each session takes approximately 20 to 30 minutes to complete and a certificate is available on completion of each session.

Additional resources for learning about long COVID

Further to the elearning sessions, learners can access free resources, intended to provide further information around conditions related to long COVID. The resources include blogs, papers, web sites and videos, organised under the following headings:

• person-centred care
• vocational rehabilitation
• loss of smell and taste
• breathing pattern disorder
• cough
• headaches
• fatigue
• sleep
• relaxation
• gastrointestinal symptoms
• myalgia

More information

Additional elearning sessions exploring maternity and mental health are currently in development and we anticipate that these will be available in Autumn 2022.

Acknowledgements

Thank you to the following who offered their insight and expertise when reviewing these sessions:

Dr Melissa Heightman, Consultant Respiratory Physician, University College London Hospitals NHS Trust.

Dr Libby Thomas, Education Lead, London Transformation and learning Collaborative (LTLC).

Dr Ian Bernstein, Director of Medical Education, Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust.

Jennie Symondson, Personalised Senior Care Manager, NHSE.

Jacky Jones, Deputy Chief Therapist, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust.

Dr Nirja Joshi, General Practitioner, South-West London, Long Covid Education Champion, South-West London and GP Fellow, Wandsworth Training Hub.

Thank you to those who contributed to the learning by sharing their stories and experiences of living with Long COVID.

How to access

In order to access the Long COVID  programme, you will need an elfh account. If you do not have one, then you can register by selecting the Register button below.

Register >

To view the Long COVID  programme, select the View button below. If you already have an account with elfh, you will also be able to login and enrol on the programme from the View button.

View >

NHS healthcare staff in England

The Long COVID 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.

Not an NHS organisation?

If you are not an NHS health or care organisation and therefore do not qualify for free access elfh Hub, you may be able to access the service by creating an OpenAthens account.

To check whether or not you qualify for free access via OpenAthens, you can view the eligibility criteria and register on the ‘OpenAthens’ portal.

Registering large numbers of users

If you are a HR, IT or Practice Manager and would like to register and enrol large numbers of staff within your organisation for access onto the Long COVID programme, please contact elfh directly.

Organisations wishing to use their own LMS

For HR departments wanting to know more about gaining access to courses using an existing Learning Management System please contact elfh directly to express interest.

More information

Please select the following link for more information on how to use the elfh Hub.