About the NHS at home elearning programme

The NHS at home elearning programme consists of the COVID Oximetry @home and COVID Virtual Wards pathways, offering elearning resources to enable people to be confidently monitored in community settings such as care homes. People with COVID-19 may become very unwell if their oxygen levels fall too far.

About the NHS Oximetry at home programme

The NHS Oximetry at home elearning programme aims to support patients and carers with an overview of pulse oximetry and how to monitor oxygen levels at home or in a care home setting.  

People at high risk of becoming seriously unwell from coronavirus are being provided with a pulse oximeter to monitor the oxygen levels in their blood at home for up to 14 days. This includes people who are clinically extremely vulnerable to coronavirus and includes people living in care homes. A pulse oximeter is a small medical device that is put on the tip of the finger. By regularly monitoring oxygen levels it can be easier to spot if coronavirus symptoms are getting worse and whether people need treatment or support.   

This elearning provides an overview of pulse oximetry for carers, including how to take the measurements and how to tell others if they are worried.

About the COVID Virtual Ward (CVW) programme

COVID Virtual Wards (CVWs), enable patients with proven a positive diagnosis of COVID-19, who are not unwell enough to continue as an hospital inpatient, to access to oximetry and be monitored for up to a 14-day period at home or their usual place of residence, this could include a care/nursing home.  CVWs support the earlier and safe discharge of COVID-19 inpatients by offering a step-down mechanism to clinicians.  

COVID Virtual Ward – Introduction to monitoring

This session has been developed as guidance for non-registered healthcare professionals involved in the monitoring of patients on COVID Virtual Wards (CVWs).  The session is designed to help the workforce better understand who the patients are, how they are admitted, why monitoring is important, their role in monitoring, further considerations are also explored. It is likely that systems will adopt their own approach in terms of delivery of care and as such this learning should be used in conjunction with local training and policies. 

About the COVID-19: Caring for yourself and others – an interactive guide
If you have had a positive COVID-19 test, or have been told that it is likely you have COVID-19 and are waiting for a test result, this information can help ensure that you know what to do if you feel more unwell.
COVID-19 – caring for yourself and others – an interactive guide

More information

The NHS at home elearning was developed in partnership with NHS England and NHS Improvement, the West of England Academic Health Science Network, Health Education England elearning for healthcare (HEE elfh) and Wessex Local Medical Committees.

Measuring Oxygen Levels – for Carers and Care homes

People with COVID-19 may become very unwell if their oxygen levels fall beyond safe levels. The COVID Oximetry @home and COVID Virtual Wards pathways enable people to be monitored in community settings such as care homes. This elearning provides an overview of pulse oximetry for care home staff and carers (paid and informal/unpaid), including how to take the measurements and how to tell others ‘what to do’ if they are worried. 

How to access

In order to access the NHS at home elearning 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 NHS at home elearning 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 >

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 NHS at home elearning 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.