Education for Health Logo

The Athenaeum
10 Church Street
Warwick
CV34 4AB
Email


Charity Reg No: 1048816
Company Reg No: 3090774

Chairman: Dr Jonathan Shapiro
MA (Cantab), MB, ChB, MRCGP

Press Releases & News

Press Releases & News at a glance:

Be ahead of the game - 'top-up' your diploma to achieve a degree in Long Term Conditions - Nov 09

Our recent validation of a new degree programme in Long-Term Conditions will enable you to top-up your diploma to be awarded a degree ahead of the move to an all graduate nursing profession. By completing only 120 credits (equivalent to 4 modules) you would be awarded with a BSc (Hons) in Long Term Conditions. Our wide range of clinically relevant, evidence based modules means that you would be studying areas which are directly relevant to your work. Undertaking the BSc (Hons) in Long Term Conditions gives you the option of studying any of our modules, or you can opt for either a Cardiovascular or Respiratory Specialist Pathway. The flexibility of distance learning allows you to fit your study around your work and home commitments, whilst being fully supported by our interactive study days and comprehensive student support service.

Please contact Laura Edwards on 01926 838969 if you would like to discuss this further or learn more about the Programmes we offer...

Mainstay of the global workforce – 40–65 year olds – hit hardest by COPD - New report highlights global economic burden of the disease -
- An estimated two billion work hours lost each week

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LONDON, England (World COPD Day, November 18, 2009) – COPD Uncovered, a new
report issued today reveals for the first time that people between the ages of 40 to 65 are
emerging as the new face of this disease. Authored by Education for Health and other
leading experts, the report uncovers a new, younger majority of COPD patients1 who
are in the prime of their career, and financially responsible for the care of their children
and aging parents. The authors call for policymakers to read the report and challenge
their thinking on how COPD should be addressed in this critical age group who are
highly depended upon by society as leading wage earners2,3.

View the full Press Release (PDF)...

Early diagnosis does help! - IPCRG supports World COPD Day with a short guide for HPs on early diagnosis of COPD - 18 Nov 09

In support of World COPD Day today, the International Primary Care Respiratory Group (IPCRG) has produced a short guide for healthcare professionals on early diagnosis in COPD - 'Early Diagnosis of COPD does help!'. The IPCRG COPD Early Diagnosis Opinion Sheet explains how early diagnosis of patients with COPD is good for the patient, physician and health care system. The health care worker must suspect the possible diagnosis from symptoms and risk factors, consider screening with mini-spirometers, and offer proper spirometry to confirm the diagnosis. Making the diagnosis early will encourage smoking cessation and enable earlier interventions to help prevent exacerbations and hopefully preserve lung function, quality of life and decrease mortality.

View the IPCRG Early Diagnosis Opinion Sheet (PDF)...

For further information about the IPCRG and its other resources for COPD care see: www.theipcrg.org

Education for Health students celebrate success at graduation awards - Oct 09

Leading education charity Education for Health is once again celebrating the benefits that commitment to life long learning can have on improving patient care and the impact that education can have as a lever for service improvement.  At a moving and inspiring graduation ceremony held at St Mary’s Church in Warwick on October 23rd 2009, 34 health professionals received an award in the presence of their family, friends and children. 

“Our graduate’s achievements speak for themselves” said Director of Education and Research, Samantha Walker.  “We have been at the forefront of primary care education for 20 years and pride ourselves on the relevance of our Open University accredited programmes”.

View the full News Release (PDF)...

Notes to Editors

Photographic Images
Education for Health would be pleased to supply high resolution images of the graduation to support articles written.

For further information please contact:
Candy Perry - Head of Corporate Communications and External Affairs on Tel: 01926 836995
Sarah Wilson - Communications Assistant on Tel: 01926 838968

New degree & diploma programmes bring greater choice, flexibility and relevance to UK primary healthcare professionals - Sept 09

Leading education charity Education for Health has launched 2 new flexible academic programmes and brought greater choice, flexibility and relevance to the professional development of health professionals throughout the United Kingdom.

The new degree and diploma programme both offer outstanding opportunities for health professionals to specialise in either cardiovascular or respiratory disease, or to extend their breadth of knowledge across long term conditions management.  In all the 2 new programmes offer health professionals the chance to select from a fully comprehensive range of 32 modules to build individualised, flexible programmes of professional development which lead to a Diploma or Degree award from the Open University.

The programmes are the result of the Charity’s response to the recent changes to the way care is being delivered - particularly across primary care, which require a different way of thinking about healthcare education.

“The Government’s model for chronic disease management has prioritised the need for better information about and for patients, as well as improved support for and care for people with chronic conditions, provided closer to their home” says Director of Education and Research Dr Samantha Walker.  “This means changing the way care is delivered and we can help with that by changing the way we train primary care health professionals in order to play an important part in developing and maintaining a skilled health professional workforce.

The Government set clear expectations on how it expects the NHS to deliver against national and local health needs - improving access to primary care and management of long term conditions remain top priorities.  Whilst Education for Health has always promoted and supported the role of primary care health professionals in improving the lives of people with long term conditions, the new emphasis that health professionals must step up to change and improve the system has inspired us to align our educational portfolio even more closely to the needs of those who are delivering practical care at a grass roots level.  At the same time we are striving support those commissioning education to narrow the gap between present levels of service and new quality outcomes to ensure development of a world class NHS workforce.”

The new programmes’ relevance, and timeliness of their launch is clearly demonstrated by the response of health professionals across the country who are already engaged on existing diploma and degree programmes at Education for Health.  They learned about the new programmes over the Summer and were offered opportunities to transfer to one of the new programmes and take advantage of a multitude of new diploma and degree modules which launch over the next few months.  Academic Registrar Yvonne Henderson commented on the speed with which the majority of students have chosen to diversify their study across the disease portfolio, and how many of them were taking this special opportunity to step up to one of the new degree pathways.

Education for Health CEO, Monica Fletcher sees supporting the shift of nursing to an all graduate profession as an important role for the Charity which has been at the forefront of primary care education for more than 20 years but warns that “everyone involved in healthcare, whether that be in service development, workforce planning or education commissioning must get better at communicating goals and outcome measures if we are truly to develop a high quality workforce. Our new degree level modules have the same core emphasis on research evidence and robust clinical skills as diploma modules.  An important feature of all Education for Health courses is that they enable learning which is directly transferable to the clinical setting and have a positive impact on patient outcomes. Having said that we are particularly excited by our new degree pathway in Cardiovascular Disease (CVD).  Whilst our CVD diploma programme is now well established its been amazing to hear the excitement of our students who are eagerly anticipating being able to step up, for example, to study Heart Failure or Diabetes as a cardiovascular disease at degree level.”

For more information about the new Degree and Diploma programmes at Education for Health contact Laura Edwards on 01926 838969 or visit our Programme Overview (PDF) or Programmes Overview page...

Asthma UK & Education for Health announce major secondment arrangement - Sept 09

Education for Health is pleased to announce the part time secondment of its Director of Education and Research to Asthma UK

Samantha Walker PhD will be seconded to Asthma UK for 2 days a week from 1st October 2009. The secondment will last for 6 months whilst Asthma UK’s Research and Policy Director, Jenny Versnel, takes sabbatical leave to undertake a Masters in BioScience Enterprise at Cambridge University.

Dr Walker is a leading figure in allergy research and known internationally for her work in the field of allergic inflammation and immunotherapy and into the links between hayfever and educational attainment. As Research and Policy Director at Asthma UK she will be leading new work into allergy and working with key stakeholders to revise their research strategy, as well as maintaining Asthma UK’s policy direction on asthma with the emergence of the new Respiratory Clinical Strategy.

"This is a great opportunity for Dr Walker and arises from our strong relationship with Asthma UK with whom we share a vision for improving awareness of asthma and allergy and the role of health professional education in promoting and delivering high quality respiratory care” said Education for Health Chief Executive Monica Fletcher. “At the same time Dr Walker will be maintaining her leadership role here at Education for Health (where she is Director of Education and Research) as we proceed with plans to adopt and integrate online learning options into our education delivery model.”

Dr Walker has long been associated with the British Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunotherapy (BSACI) as a Council member and has been central in developing and implementing their primary care and nursing strategies. She is also actively involved with the General Practice Airways Group as Research Lead and co-Chair of their Conference Committee. “She brings to my Executive Team a depth of relevant expertise and judgement, a credibility and profile with both the scientific and clinical communities, knowledge of allergy as well as asthma, and considerable management experience” said Neil Churchill, Chief Executive of Asthma UK. “I also hope and believe that this secondment will lead to a deepening of the very productive working relationship that Education for Health and Asthma UK have hitherto enjoyed.”

Update on GARD – expanding the role of nurses in the provision of respiratory care to reduce the global disease burden - Aug 09

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We are a member of GARD (The Global Alliance Against Chronic Respiratory Diseases).  GARD is a global voluntary alliance of 41 national and international organisations whose mission is to reduce the global burden of respiratory diseases by integrating and strengthening surveillance, prevention and treatment efforts.  GARD is chaired and coordinated by WHO (The World Health Organisation).

We are delighted to announce that Monica Fletcher our Chief Executive has been elected as the first GARD representative for nursing, allied health professionals and educators.  This is a new position on the global panning committee and was created this year in recognition of the expanding role of nurses and others in the provision of respiratory care.  Monica said: “This is a great honour and we are very proud. It puts us in a key position to influence the multi professional dimension in the provision of respiratory care.  We also intend to promote the key role that healthcare professional education plays in improving the standards of care”.

Currently, hundreds of millions of people suffer from chronic respiratory diseases, including 300 million people with asthma, 80 million people with moderate to severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and millions of others with mild COPD, allergic rhinitis, and other chronic respiratory diseases, which are often undiagnosed.  The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that some 4 million people died of chronic respiratory diseases (CRD) in 2005 and that total deaths will increase by 30% in the next 10 years, if action is not taken now.  

With over 20 years of improving patient care by educating health professionals in evidence based chronic disease diagnosis, management and treatment we’ve witnessed firsthand the impact high quality health professional education can have in improving patient care.  Being a member of GARD means we can help to spread valuable learning and experience in relation to the role of education as an important contributor to high quality patient care.

The key objectives for GARD involve a comprehensive approach to fight chronic respiratory diseases and in many cases will build on already existing initiatives. They include:

  1. Making recommendations for how to provide simple and affordable strategies for the management of chronic respiratory diseases for all patients in all countries. Strategies will focus on early diagnosis and appropriate and affordable treatments, because chronic respiratory diseases are largely under-diagnosed and under-treated.
  2. Developing a standard way of obtaining data on risk factors and disease burden of chronic respiratory diseases. This will help define strategies and raise chronic respiratory diseases on the global and local health agendas (as a public health priority).
  3. Encouraging countries to implement health promotion and chronic disease prevention policies such as tobacco control in order to reduce the burden of chronic respiratory disease as well as other chronic diseases.

WHO advocates an integrated approach which combines the  prevention and management of chronic respiratory diseases with a similar approach for heart disease, stroke, diabetes and other chronic diseases.

Preventing chronic diseases is a vital investment and we are working hard to support clinicians, governments’ professional associations by developing our international capability to build sustainable education and training programmes overseas and be developing an innovative new module ‘Improving Public Health’.   In these ways our activities will also contribute to achieving GARD’s Global Goal to reduce death rates from chronic respiratory diseases and other chronic diseases including heart disease, stroke, cancer and diabetes by an additional 2% per year over and above existing trends during the next 10 years, to 2015.

More information about GARD is available from: http://www.who.int/gard

You can also show your support by signing up on the “A world where all people breathe freely” page of the GARD website at: http://www.who.int/gard/GARD_sign_up/en/index.html

2008 BTS/SIGN British Guideline on the Management of Asthma - Revised June 2009

The 2008 edition of the BTS/SIGN British Guideline on the Management of Asthma was published in the May 2008 issue of Thorax.  The new 2008 Guideline (revised June 2009) contains a completely rewritten section on diagnosis for both adults and children; a section on special situations which includes occupational asthma, asthma in pregnancy and the new topic of difficult asthma; updated sections on pharmacological and non-pharmacological management; and amalgamated sections on patient education and compliance, and organisation of care and audit.  Searches were conducted on inhaler devices but there was insufficient new evidence to change the existing recommendations.

To download the revised BTS/SIGN Guideline go to:
http://www.brit-thoracic.org.uk/Portals/0/Clinical%20Information/Asthma/Guidelines/Asthma_fullguideline_2009.pdf

If you have previously completed asthma training with us and think you would benefit from consolidating what you learnt then with what’s new in the guidelines, call Nicki on 01926 838969 or find out more about our Asthma Update Short Course and Diploma and Degree Level Asthma Courses.

Revised course programme; packed full of education and training dates enrolling now - Aug 09

We have just launched our revised Course Programme (August 09) which is packed full of education and training dates enrolling now.  The programme acts as a check list for courses which can be delivered in your local area for groups of 15 or more.

For further details and to download your copy please visit:
http://www.educationforhealth.org/courseprog.asp

Pulse Check Drop-in Session - numerous members of the public called in to understand how to take their pulse - Jun 09

laura_kenwright_photoLaura Kenwright of Stratford and Norman Nelmes of Barford were two of numerous members of the public who called into the Pulse Check Drop-in Session held at Education for Health, Warwick on Wednesday 10th June.  At the session qualified nurses taught members of the public how to take their pulse and helped them to understand that the pulse is one of the most effective ways to identify potential cardiac arrhythmias.

The session was part of Arrhythmia Awareness Week which runs from 8th to 14th June 2009.  The national campaign aims to raise awareness and promote better understanding of arrhythmic conditions.  Arrhythmia Alliance, the organisation behind the campaign, encourages regular routine pulse checks.

Laura Kenwright came along to the drop-in session as she had recently been thinking about cardiac conditions following the death of her brother’s best friend from a heart attack.  Having seen posters advertising the event Laura decided to be proactive and come long to find out more about cardiac arrhythmias and how to take her own Pulse.  She said “I will definitely be putting this into practice at home and will now regularly check my pulse”.

norman_nelmes_photoNorman who has a history of heart problems in his family, thought it would be a good idea to attend the drop-in session in order to learn more about taking a pulse.  He hopes that now he ‘knows his pulse’ he will now be able to keep an eye on his own in the future.

Cardiac Arrhythmia is an abnormal electrical activity in the heart which affects the way the heart beats and is a number one killer in the UK.  More than 2 million people in the UK (diagnosed and undiagnosed) have an arrhythmia and it affects people of any age.  Untreated, some arrhythmias can lead to sudden cardiac arrest, stroke and loss of consciousness.

Monica Fletcher, Chief Executive of Education for Health and arrhythmia patient herself comments: “We are delighted to be working with Arrhythmia Alliance on this very important issue.  Talking a pulse is a very simple thing that patients can learn to do themselves.  Unfortunately many people are not aware of having an abnormal heart rhythm and pulse checking could identify irregularities”.

Trudie Lobban, Trustee, Founder and CEO of Arrhythmia Alliance, comments: “Finding out about arrhythmias early could improve a patient’s chance of finding a successful treatment and could save their life.  That is why Arrhythmia Alliance encourages regular routine pulse checks as exist for blood pressure and weight”.

If you are interested in finding out more about how to check your own pulse you can download a simple 4 step guide at www.knowyourpulse.org

Download the full Press Release (PDF format)...

Notes to Editors

About Education for Health
Education for Health is the UK’s leading education Charity for health professionals working with patients with long term conditions.  It aims to provide a consistent, comprehensive and innovative approach to professional health training across the fields of cardiovascular, respiratory and allergic diseases, with the ultimate objective of transforming lives worldwide.  Educational programmes are run nationally and internationally and are accredited by the Open University.

For further information please contact:
Candy Perry - Head of Corporate Communications and External Affairs
Tel: 01926 836995

Sarah Wilson – Communications Assistant
Tel: 01926 838968.

Pulse Check Drop-in Session, 10th June; Arrhythmia Awareness Week
Public encouraged to 'Know Your Pulse' to help prevent deaths from cardiac arrhythmias - 28 May 09

know_your_pulse_logoThe Pulse Check Drop-in Session, encouraging people to ‘Know Your Pulse’ will take place at Education for Health, The Athenaeum, 10 Church Street, Warwick, CV34 4AB between 9.30am and 11.30am, Wednesday 10th June.  The free pulse checks by qualified nurses will be offered to members of the public to help people to understand that the pulse is one of the most effective ways of identifying potential cardiac arrhythmias.  Those attending will be shown how to take their pulse and will be given a Pulse Check Card, which will remind them of how to do this simple check and enable them to keep a record of their pulse over a period of time.

Cardiac arrhythmia - an abnormal electrical activity in the heart which affects the way the heart beats - is a number one killer in the UK. More than 2 million people in the UK (diagnosed and undiagnosed) have an arrhythmia and it affects people of any age. Untreated, some arrhythmias can lead to sudden cardiac arrest, stroke and loss of consciousness.

An arrhythmia is when the heart occasionally or consistently beats too quickly, too slowly, abnormally or irregularly. Cardiac arrhythmias vary widely in type and severity. Once diagnosed, cardiac arrhythmias can usually be treated effectively with drugs, devices, surgery, or a combination of these approaches.

Monica Fletcher, Chief Executive of Education for Health and an arrhythmia patient comments:
"We are delighted to be working with Arrhythmia Alliance on this very important issue.  Taking a pulse is a very simple thing that patients can learn to do themselves.  Unfortunately many people are not aware of having an abnormal heart rhythm and pulse checking could identify any irregularities.  At Education for Health we are also encouraging doctors and nurses to check pulses as our latest research evidence1 suggests that since the widespread introduction of automated blood pressure machines this is not routinely being done."

Arrhythmia Awareness Week runs from 8 to 14 June 2009 and the overriding theme is ‘Know Your Pulse’. The national campaign aims to raise awareness and promote better understanding of arrhythmic conditions. Arrhythmia Alliance, the organisation behind the campaign, encouragesregularroutine procedural pulse checks.

Professor A. John Camm, BHF Professor Clinical Cardiology St George's University of London and President of Arrhythmia Alliance comments:
"Arrhythmias are a leading killer in the UK and are more common than you might think.  Some arrhythmias are less serious.  Often people don’t know they have an arrhythmia until it is too late.  That is why it is important for members of the public to know how to take their pulse.  If you feel unwell and your heart is beating either too fast, too slow or in an unusual way you should seek advice from your doctor.”

Bev Cox, a Clinical Lecturer from Education for Health, a Nurse Practitioner  in Coventry and one of the organisers of the Pulse Check Drop-in session comments:
"Knowing your pulse is one of the most effective ways to identify if you might be suffering from a cardiac arrhythmia. We are encouraging members of the public to have a better idea of what their ‘normal’ pulse is and to regularly check their pulse so that they can identify if there is anything unusual about it in the future. If they pick up an unusual pulse then they should talk to their doctor.”

Trudie Lobban, Trustee, Founder and CEO of Arrhythmia Alliance, comments:
“Finding out about arrhythmias early could improve a patient's chance of finding a successful treatment and could save their life. That is why Arrhythmia Alliance encouragesregularroutine pulse checksasexist for blood pressure and weight.”

People interested in knowing how to check their own pulse can download a simple 4 step guide at: www.knowyourpulse.org

View the full Press Release & further details of the Drop-in Session...

- ends -

For further information about the Pulse Check Drop-in Session contact:
Sue Davis-Russell, 01926 836841, s.davis-russell@educationforhealth.org

For information on Arrhythmia Awareness Week contact:
Joanna Goldberg on 01789 451823 or email: joannag@stars.org.uk   

Notes to Editors:

  • Arrhythmia Awareness Week (AAAW) gives anyone with an interest in heart rhythm disorders, their symptoms and effects, the opportunity to raise awareness and promote better understanding of arrhythmic conditions. 2009 marks the sixth Arrhythmia Awareness Week.
  • AAAW is organised by Arrhythmia Alliance (A-A), a coalition of individuals, patients groups, charities, professional medical groups and allied professionals. These groups work together under the Arrhythmia Alliance umbrella to raise awareness of cardiac arrhythmias and to promote timely and effective diagnosis and treatment of arrhythmias leading to an improved quality of life.
  • Education for Health’s recent research showed that three quarters of nurses did not palpate the pulse in all of their last five consultations, and thus potentially missing opportunities to identify atrial fibrillation.
  1.  Madoc-Sutton H, Pearson E, Upton J. Opportunistic screening for atrial fibrillation. Practice Nursing 2009; In press.

How to act 'FAST' - for early recognition of stroke - Apr 09

FAST_imageThe Department of Health’s (DH) focus on predicting and preventing premature death and illness from cardiovascular disease (CVD) is reaching the public through the FAST campaign currently showing on a television or a bus stop near you!  The message is clear – Stroke is an emergency and you need to act FAST.  If there are signs of Facial drooping or lack of ability to smile, Arms unable to be lifted equally or Speech slurred it’s Time to call 999.  With the DH Vascular Checks programme kicking off on 1st April to identify people at high risk of CVD there will be increased opportunity to support these people to reduce their risk before they show any signs of CVD.  Our Putting Prevention First one day short course and CVD Risk diploma module will equip healthcare professionals with the skills and knowledge to understand vascular checks and make a difference to people at risk of CVD.  The course provides an overview of CVD and risk factors, the practicalities of risk assessment including risk calculators and tools and both pharmacological and non-pharmacological management of CVD risk.

For those who do develop signs of Stroke the need for early recognition is vital to save lives and minimise the long term effects of this potentially devastating condition.  Our diploma level module Stroke in Primary Care was designed for primary healthcare practitioners to support their role in the patient pathway.  The course covers primary prevention and CVD risk assessment, recognition of stroke and TIA including risk stratification using the ABCD2 score and when to refer.  Long term management of stroke is explored looking at both pharmacological and non-pharmacological strategies and supported self care.

Find out more information about our Stroke in Primary Care module by contacting Laura Edwards on tel: +44 (0)1926 838969 or view the Stroke module overview

Updated! Asthma Update Short Course - Apr 09

We have updated our Asthma Update Short Course in order to reflect changes made in May 2008 to the British Thoracic Society Guidelines for Asthma Management and the ARIA guidelines. This one day short course is for healthcare professionals who have studied the Asthma Diploma with us before May 2008 and want to consolidate their prior knowledge and gain an overview of the updated BTS guidelines. The course includes:

  • Diagnosis and the concept of 'probability'
  • Update on treatment options
  • Discussion around the advantages and disadvantages of the new inhaler devices
  • Consolidation of prior knowledge.

If you want any discuss this updated course further or book your place please call:
 Nicki Overton Tel: 01926 838969.

Or go to our Asthma Update Short Course overview...

Education as a lever for service improvement; skills development in blood gas testing - Apr 09

We believe that patients suffering from respiratory conditions such as COPD should receive the best care and treatment available.  This helps them to cope better with their condition and improve their quality of life.  When Axis Shield approached us with an idea for training which would ensure that COPD patients received better treatment when they presented for blood gas tests, we welcomed the opportunity.

With Sponsorship from Axis Shield, Education for Health trainers are now leading our series of bespoke workshops which are designed to ensure that health professionals operating i-STAT devices, have the skills to obtain an effective arterialised blood sample from a patient’s ear lobe.  These samples can then be used for blood gas testing on the handheld device.

This training develops important skills for the management of COPD patients in primary care: COPD patients at high risk of emergency admission require a range of tests including blood gas analysis.  Whilst these patients would usually be seen as day cases at their local hospital and having made the difficult journey to the hospital, would then have to wait around for their results, this new device means that patients can now be tested at a primary care level and receive their results immediately.

By ensuring that healthcare professionals are fully trained in the skill of obtaining blood samples, we can ensure that patients have a good experience of blood gas testing at a primary care level.  This is critical with getting oxygen therapy into the community where respiratory patients need it most.

Working in partnership to develop and deliver innovative educational solutions which can make a real difference to patient care, clinician behaviour or service improvement is something Education for Health is good at.

To talk about how we can help you use education as a lever for service improvement call: Nina Rawstrone on 01926 836836.

Nina will be able to discuss your needs and training options available.

Bridging the Gap; CVD Risk - Apr 09

This short article launches a new occasional series written by our clinical leadership team. Their aim is to help you explore and identify potential knowledge and skills gaps between what you know now about diagnosis, management or treatment of a particular disease, and what you need to know in order to provide highest quality care.

Managing health to prevent disease is top of the Government's agenda so we're starting the series by focusing on cardiovascular risk. Since cardiovascular disease can largely be predicted and prevented the new Vascular Checks Programme has very strong potential to save 650 lives a year and prevent 1,600 heart attacks and strokes but only if you know how.

cvd_checksThe Vascular Checks Programme starts this month and all PCT’s are expected to be actively addressing it. However as is often the case part of the issue is understanding what you need to know and what you need to be able to do in order to perform these vascular checks in general practice?

To help we've developed a new template which describes the required knowledge and skills whilst performing vascular checks and this can be downloaded free of charge:

Download the template here (PDF)...

Whilst PCT's will undoubtedly expect every general practice to be involved in the Vascular Checks Programme, it is likely that practice nurses will carry out most of the risk assessments. However, practical issues and balancing healthcare priorities means that not every practice nurse will be working on managing CVD risk at this level. All primary healthcare practitioners should be involved in making sure the right people are assessed and access support to reduce their risk.

We have therefore provided a knowledge and skills checklist for primary care staff who will be supporting but not carrying out vascular checks:

Download the template here (PDF)...

Top line news is that the DoH have commissioned Education for Health to provide accredited CVD Risk education to health professionals working in areas of deprivation or high CVD mortality. We are also working in partnership with Skills for Health to develop a Skills Competency Framework which will help you plan more effective continuing professional development goals.

Find out further information about our CVD Risk Module...

Putting Patients First - Tracy Hall; Community Matron & joint clinical champion for COPD receives Queen’s Nurse Award - Apr 09

tracy_hallWe are proud to share thrilling news that Tracy Hall, one of our Masters students, has just heard that she will receive the Queen’s Nurse Title this May!  We would like to wish Tracy many congratulations on her award, and we are so delighted that she has been recognised for all her hard work.

Tracy is currently in the 2nd year of our MSc in Respiratory Medicine whilst working full time as a Community Matron and joint clinical champion for COPD in Stoke-on-Trent.   As a community matron Tracy works with individuals to help manage their long term conditions, she’s passionate about district nursing, has served as a PEC nurse, and as joint clinical champion she is able to improve on care provision for people with COPD.

The award from the Queen’s Nursing Institute (QNI) not only allows her to add the letters QN after her name, but also enables Tracy to input into national policy over the best ways of supporting people with chronic conditions at home to keep them out of hospital. 

To win the award she had to show she was involved in care strategies, write three essays on her field and demonstrate how she was involved in educating colleagues.  Tracy needed references from two patients, two colleagues and a manager. 

Tracy said: “I am completely overwhelmed to be recognised by the QNI as it is the ultimate award in the nursing profession.  I firmly believe in putting my patients first and I hope that working in partnership with the QNI, I will be able to share my knowledge with the rest of the nursing profession to improve standards.”

As part of her MSc coursework Tracy had to critique her clinical role.  It was during this process she realised that she had achieved a great deal and made a real difference to patient’s lives.  Tracy said: “If I had not been a student with Education for Health then I doubt very much I would have applied.  The MSc lead me to analyse my role and reflect upon my practice. Through this I acknowledged that in Stoke-on-Trent we are doing a good job and I decided to put my head above the parapet so to speak and share with others what we have achieved.”

For further information on how our MSc programme can help you to be more confident, questioning and really move things forward in your clinical team then please call:
Clare Blenkinsop on Tel: 01926 836842

To find out more about the Queen’s Nurse Awards please visit: http://www.qni.org.uk/awards/index.html

Locally delivered learning in Denmark – offering greater access to high quality education in long term conditions - Apr 09

What follows is a remarkable story about how one Danish nurse has had the ambition, determination and foresight to affect the respiratory education of health professionals of an entire country. The result is that leading Education charity Education for Health contracted to work in partnership with the Centre of Quality Improvement in Denmark.

Birthe Hellquist is a Danish respiratory nurse specialist.  In 1993 she undertook the asthma diploma module with Education for Health. Over the next few years Birthe was able to commission respiratory education to improve respiratory care in her locality and became an Education for Health Trainer so she should deliver the training and support her colleagues personally.

danish_trainers

Founding members of the Danish Trainer Team
with Samantha Walker, Director of Education & Research
From left to right: Birthe Hellquist, Elise Austegard, Siren Nicolaisen and Samantha Walker

“My vision has always been to find a way to develop a clinical career pathway for nurses in Denamrk where it can be hard to maintain nursing careers.” Birthe said during the launch of the Education for Health / Centre of Quality Improvement partnership on 30th March in Arhaus. Danish health professionals who have undertaken Education for Health courses have had such an impact on healthcare in Denmark over the last few years that their Department of Healthcare Quality has begun to get actively involved.

Over the past few years Danish nurses have only been able to study Education for Health courses and be examined and assessed in English. But “our Danish government are finally putting chronic disease management on the national healthcare improvement agenda so the timing is perfect for us to be taking this partnership forward now. Nurses have a real role in improving the lives of our patients with chronic conditions. ; I am hoping we will be able to extend nursing roles to advanced practitioners.” said Birthe.

Our new partnership with the Danish Centre of Quality Improvement means we are expanding the number and range of courses on offer in Denmark, translating many of our materials into Danish and getting them accredited by Denmark’s University College South. This means the Education for Health Asthma, COPD and allergy diploma modules can form part of the full diploma programme in Healthcare which all Danish University Colleges offer which is really exciting for Danish nurses and offers far greater access to high quality education.” Said Monica Fletcher, Chief Executive of Education for Health.  “There’s even a Danish Education for Health micro website on the Danish national health organization website at www.bedreliv.rm.dk and a Danish Education for Health prospectus!”

Having played a key role in developing Education for Health’s activities in Denmark we’re delighted Birthe has taken on leadership of the whole project which launches this month with fully booked asthma, allergy and COPD diploma courses as well as fully booked one day essential skills courses in hypertension, asthma, allergy and COPD. Three more Danish students have undertaken our Aspire to Inspire Trainers course and are now in the process of being inducted as Education for Health Trainers bringing the total Danish Trainer team up to 6.  We’re also all working hard to attract funding which will enable us to evaluate the effect of training General Practice Nurses in COPD, focusing on the implementation of evidence based care and improving use of spirometry.

Head of Communications at Education for Health Candy Perry said “Anyone can work with us to take advantage of our Locally Delivered Learning service.  We’ll do our best to provide training anywhere for teams or multidisciplinary groups of up to 20 people and are very proud to have been able to develop such a wealth of experience in working collaboratively to develop sustainable education programmes.  So far we’ve delivered education in 47 countries and provide support for ongoing programmes in Syria, Saudi and Bermuda and have a new programme launching in Bangladesh in May.”

To plan or discuss how we can support your team’s professional development or your service improvement plans using Locally Delivered Learning contact:
Nina Rawstrone on Tel: 01926 836836.

Introducing the Locally Delivered Team in the UK:

With our ever increasing portfolio of courses and the fact that our locally delivered courses are more popular than ever, our Locally Delivered Team is expanding!  We would love you to be able to put a name to a face when you call or receive correspondence from us, so please let us introduce you to our Locally Delivered Team

Education for Health will launch Better Breathing Bangladesh for World Asthma Day (5th May) - Apr 09

Better Breathing Bangladesh is leading health education charity Education for Health’s latest project to use health professional education to improve the quality of care provided to patients with long term conditions. The project launches on World Asthma day and aims to improve the care provided by GP s in Bangladesh as well as help them to obtain basic equipment to set up respiratory clinics across the country. Education for Health has sent it’s Trainers, learning materials, clinical equipment and patient materials to Bangladesh to support the first steps towards sustainable healthcare improvement using its pioneering train-the-healthcare-trainer model.

Better Breathing Bangladesh is also the result of the extraordinary actions of one astonishing GP from Bangladesh. In 2002 Dr Monsur Habib paid for himself to undertake several Education for Health diploma level modules. He could only stay in England for one month so Dr Habib studied our 6 month asthma diploma, 2 day Trainers course and several one day essential skills courses all at the same time!

In Bangladesh Asthma prevalence is estimated to be about 5.2% and COPD 5%. However disease registers in primary care are non existent and figures based on patient surveys are expected to be a gross underestimate of the real size of the problem. Dr Habib returned to Bangladesh determined to share what he had learned and use his knowledge to improve respiratory care across his entire country. Over the next few years Dr Habib maintained close contact with staff at Education for Health whilst working diligently to raise the profile of respiratory disease in General Practice whilst setting up and running a large community clinic in his home village.

By 2008 Dr Habib had inspired more than 750 Bangladeshi physicians to attend the inaugural Bangladesh Lung Foundation Conference in Dhaka. Education for Health Chief Executive Monica Fletcher attended the conference, gave 2 plenary lectures and chaired a major symposium. The visit was the tipping point for the charity, which aims to improve the care of patients with long term conditions worldwide by educating the health professionals who care for them, to work in partnership with the Bangladeshi GPs and develop Better Breathing Bangladesh.

"I was provided with unique opportunities to witness doctors and nurses working in extreme conditions which are quite normal for one of the world’s most densely populated and poorest countries. They do not have access to basic equipment which we take for granted. They do not have spacer devices or peak flow meters – they make spacers by bending cardboard into an ice cream cone shape. Spirometry is non existent. There are no patient educational materials.”

"I was overwhelmed by the GP’s enthusiasm and determination first to learn how we approach evidence based respiratory care in the UK and then to use their learning immediately and pragmatically within the context of their own healthcare setting.

bangladeshi_boy "On a visit to a hospital in Dhaka I met a 21 year old man (see photograph) who has spent his life in and out of hospital taking multiple courses of steroids. His case is graphic illustration of poor asthma management which most of us only personally experience in text books.” said Monica Fletcher.

"Better Breathing Bangladesh provides a special opportunity for us to more proactively support Dr Habib and his colleagues in a relevant and sustainable way” commented Candy Perry, Head of Communications at the Charity. “Two of our most accomplished Trainers are out in Bangladesh launching an especially tailored asthma diploma course to 24 Doctors. Monica Fletcher is also running an Education for Health Trainers Course with key doctors in the group to start building the local infrastructure. This group will go on to shadow Education for Health Trainers on a second course later in 2009 before going on to deliver Education for Health asthma courses in Bangladesh in 2010. At this point Better Breathing Bangladesh becomes self sustaining.”

"We couldn’t just export our training model though”, says Monica. “Bangladesh is a very poor country. We’re heavily subsidising course fees and have had to tailor all the learning materials to include only those medications and inhaler devices which are available in Bangladesh. TB is a big challenge out there so we’re adding more time to discuss the differential diagnosis of asthma and bring in more TB. Thanks to generous help from GSK and Trudell Medical we’ve been shipping out our Simply Asthma booklets, peak flow meters and spacers so that everyone will hopefully have the right basic equipment, and whilst Education for Health is paying for air travel our Trainers are both taking annual leave in order to be out training in Bangladesh. Longer term it would be great to be able to translate the materials from English."

Notes to Editors:

Bangladesh is one of the world’s most densely populated countries. Poverty is deep and widespread:

  • Population:  146,736,000
  • Poverty (those living on less than $1 Per day):  47m (36%)
  • Life expectancy at birth m/f:  63.0 / 63.0
  • Child mortality m/f (per 1000):  251/258
  • Total health expenditure per capita (2002):  $54.00
  • Total health expenditure as % of GDP (2002):  3.1

Source:  WHO  All figures for 2003 unless otherwise stated.

The Health Care System

It is estimated that 65% of health care is delivered through the private sector and 35% through the public sector. WHO states that less that 40% of the population receive basic health care. Non-government organisations (NGOs), national and international, are significant providers of health care in both urban and rural areas.

Main disease profile

Priority health areas remain those of diarrhoeal diseases; vector-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue; acute respiratory infections (ARIs); water-borne diseases. Similarly reproductive health; maternal mortality; malnutrition; nutritional deficiency anaemia and HIV/AIDS are of major concern. Emerging non-communicable diseases are identified as diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease and cancer.

Asthma and COPD

Asthma prevalence according to a community survey carried out by the National Asthma Prevalence Study (NAPS) is 5.2%. COPD according to a hospital based survey, is 5%

Funding

Currently foreign assistance accounts for 61% of health service development and 36% of total healthcare expenditure. The majority of foreign assistance comes from WHO and association UN agencies (e.g. UNICEF an UNDP) plus ten bi-lateral (government) donors, including the British Government Department for International Development (DfID).

Geographical Spread

The focus of activity in relation to training and management of respiratory disease is in the capital city, Dhaka.

More information from:
Candy Perry, Head of Corporate Communications & External Affairs
Email: c.perry@educationforhealth.org

People are dying for lack of knowledge - why we have joined HIFA2015 (Health Information for All by 2015) - Apr 09

As a leading international charity whose strategic aim is to take action to educate people and transform lives, one of our key charitable objectives is to promote the long term conditions agenda and raise awareness of the importance of education as a vital contributor to high quality patient care. Tens of thousands of people die every day, often for the simple reason that the parent, carer or health worker lacks the information and knowledge they need to save them.

Health Information for All (HIFA 2015) is a campaign and knowledge network whose vision is that every person worldwide will have access to an informed healthcare provider by 2015. We have recently joined HIFA2015 in order to contribute our growing experience of working collaboratively with overseas governments, healthcare organizations and key clinicians in countries as diverse as Bangladesh, Saudi, Syria, Denmark and Bermuda. The models we are able to draw on include developing and delivering evidence based long term conditions education to frontline healthcare professionals as well as developing sustainability by training and developing native health professionals to deliver education using train the trainer ideologies.

HIFA 2015 currently has more than 2200 members from142 countries worldwide. Members include health workers, publishers, librarians, information technologists, researchers, social scientists, journalists, policy-makers and others - all contributing to developing the HIFA2015 Knowledge Base. This is a tool for HIFA2015 members and others with a professional interest in how to improve the availability of relevant, reliable information for healthcare providers in low-income settings. It is a work in progress, drawing from the experience and expertise of HIFA2015 members.

The current content gives a flavour of what we are aiming to build: a picture of information needs of different healthcare providers in low-income settings; barriers and drivers to the provision and use of information; and cost-effective solutions. TheKnowledge Basewill provide the evidence base to support individual and collective efforts towards the HIFA2015 goal.

We will keep you up to date with the latest on HIFA2015 via our news page.

You can also join HIFA2015 yourself at: http://www.hifa2015.org

REAL website - Interactive new case studies now available for respiratory education and learning - Apr 09

Respiratory Education and Learning (REAL) is our innovative electronic educational resource for improving health professional management of respiratory disease at:http://real.eguidelines.co.uk

Launched 6 months ago with sponsorship from Teva UK Ltd and in partnership with eGuidelines.co.uk we've been delighted to find that one of the most popular parts of the site has been the paediatric asthma interactive case study featuring a small boy called Jeremy. Charting his progression from a 'could have been avoided' exacerbation to supported self management, health professionals can interact at key points of the story to decide the most appropriate diagnosis decisions, treatment and care - then get marks for their personal performance each time they work through it.

We’ve updated the site for April to include:

  • 3 new patient-led, interactive case studies (inhaler device selection, hayfever and COPD)
  • Short inhaler device survey
  • ‘What’s New’ in the BTS/SIGN guideline
  • ‘What’s New’ for asthma and COPD in the QoF
  • There’ll also be more information on how you can use education to achieve your goals and how to make your case to secure funding for your respiratory education.

To access the site you need to be a subscriber to eGuidelines so we’ve arranged free life time subscription for all of our students, alumni and their colleagues.

Click the link to register for eGuidelines then use your password to access the REAL site: http://www.eguidelines.co.uk/user/register/index_newsys.php?assocID=efh     

Access to this site will enable healthcare professionals to follow links to the latest BTS/SIGN guideline on asthma and to relevant Guidelines summaries on eGuidelines.co.uk, It also offers a route to a range of accredited educational modules from Education for Health which enable multidisciplinary teams to deliver measurable health improvements for their patients with asthma. Find out more at:www.educationforhealth.org.uk/pages/real.asp

Aspire to Inspire: New 2-Day Course; Facilitation, Presentation and Teaching Skills - Jan 09

This new Education for Health course is the culmination of 21 years of developing our Trainers to become leaders in their field. Health professionals tell us they are increasingly being asked to cascade different types of training and education across multidisciplinary teams. The new 2-day facilitation course allows plenty of time for delegates to get to grips with the current thinking and theories behind effective facilitation and presentation techniques and then provides lots of opportunities to try out new ideas and practise new skills in a friendly and secure environment. It is a great opportunity for those who are experienced in delivering training but realise that our unique approach will offer them something more.


Following a highly successful first course In Nov 2008, student feedback included:

            ‘Practical tips and focus’

            ‘Simply outstanding!’

            ‘Very supportive and safe’

            ‘Opportunity to practice own facilitation skills with expert support’.

Find out more about Aspire to Inspire...

Cohorts are kept small to ensure maximum interaction.

Accredited COPD training to support NICE Guidelines - Jan 09

Until recently COPD attracted little attention and was dubbed "the Cinderella respiratory disease". However, there is now renewed interest in this condition and the NICE Guidelines emphasise assessment of severity of COPD and the subsequent delivery of appropriate care by a trained health professional. COPD patients range from being asymptomatic to needing palliative care.

Our accredited COPD diploma module will help to develop the necessary competence to achieve this care pathway. Alternatively, if you are looking for training at a higher level, we offer an accredited COPD degree level module.

Studying on our accredited COPD modules will enable you to confidently identify and diagnose the disease at an early stage.  It may be possible to then instigate appropriate management strategies, so that the patient can continue to function as normally as possible within his or her usual home setting.

For further information on either of these modules please call us on +44 (0)1926 838969.

Undetected, untreated AF increases the risk of Stroke - Jan 09

We recently presented the findings of our latest cross sectional pilot survey. This investigated how often practice nurses palpate the pulse alongside using an electronic sphygmomanometer (ES). We found that approximately three quarters of practice nurses are potentially missing opportunities to identify AF by palpating the pulse every time they measured blood pressure using an ES.

Link to Pulse Palpation Poster (PDF)...

There’s lots of information on how you can use pulse palpation as a screening tool for AF and improve your management of stroke in primary care in our new accredited diploma module, Stroke in Primary Care which launches this month. It’s suitable for all health professionals involed in prevention, symptom recognition and management of stroke in primary care.

For further information - access our Stroke in Primary Care Diploma details...

Map of Medicine supports professional training and development - Dec 08

The Map of Medicine is an online resource of over 390 pathways developed by clinicians which can be localised to incorporate your local requirements. West Midlands NHS has been one of the early adopters of the Map so we invited Sue Hindle, Care Pathways and Knowledge Manager at the West Midlands Programme for IT to come and share their experiences.

As well as being an important knowledge resource, the Map can be used to plan professional development if health professionals compare their existing knowledge against the guidelines-based practice advocated in the Map.

Pathways within the Map are updated annually (more if needed) and as the Map incorporates NICE guidelines wherever possible, clinicians can be confident that the information is up-to-date and evidence based.

Find the Map at www.mapofmedicine.co

Lodged Funds Service enables Education Leads to allocate underspent funds to accredited nurse eduction - 1 Dec 08

It's the time of year when NHS managers review their budgets and make plans for the next finanical year. At times like this allocating unspent funds can become a priority. Last year signficant numbers of NHS managers took advantage of Education for Health's Lodged Funds Service. By allocating the funds to evidence-based accredited nurse education they were able to draw down on the fund over time, in line with their local health priorities and strategic direction. More information is available at: www.educationforhealth.org.uk/pages/_documents/lodgedfundservice2.doc
or telephone Nina Rawstrone, NHS Liaison Lead on 01926 836836 or email General Enquiries

Making Your Case For Education And Training - Sep 08

We have updated our highly successful toolkits called "How to make your case for education and training" which offers nurses a simple, effective way to produce business cases to successfully secure funds for continuing professional development.

Already more than 2,000 nurses have downloaded the toolkit which was launched with business proposals for accredited education in spirometry, COPD and asthma, and now we have added proposals for allergy, TB as well as cardiovascular areas such as AF, CHD, CVD Risk, Diabetes, Heart Failure, Hypertension and Stroke.

The kit contains evidence-based, disease-specific business proposals for nurses to establish their current levels of knowledge, understanding and experience, and plan development of their competencies with reference to the QOF, KSF and National Workforce Competencies.

The range of Toolkits can be viewed and downloaded here...

New sponsorship for courses in East Midlands and Yorkshire & Humber SHA areas - Sep 08

Expanded education commissioning arrangements with East Midlands and Yorkshire and Humber Strategic Health Authorities means that nursing and allied health professionals can now freely access a whole range of short courses, modules and programmes at diploma, degree and Masters levels. You can even arrange for fee-free team training in your own area for groups of 15 or more.

Nurses in primary and secondary care who work in the East Midlands can now claim 100% sponsorship to undertake stroke and atrial fibrillation diploma level modules with Education for Health.

Places are allocated on a first come, first served basis.

For the East Midlands area, the quickest way for you to find out more information is to contact
Nina Rawstrone:
Email Bookings - Locally Delivered

List of courses available in the East Midlands region... (PDF)

Contact our preferred partner in Yorkshire and Humber area, Julie Catchpole of Rotherham Respiratory Group: Email Julie

List of courses available in the Yorks & Humber region... (PDF)

region_map

Download a FREE template for use on your computer to help you detect which of your asthma patients also have allergic rhinitis

A free link has been provided to a template produced by Dr D Shepherd of the Leicestershire Primary Care Audit Group supporting asthma review using the 6-Point Asthma and Allergic Rhinitis Status Measure developed by GPIAG / Allergy UK.

Important Information : The asthma/allergy template is only available for download to EMIS LV, EMIS PCS and VISION GP practice systems. If you are unsure which GP system your practice has please clarify with your Practice Manager. Do not attempt to download the template if your practice does not use one of these compatible systems.

We would also suggest that your Practice Manager is best placed to install the template on your behalf. Instructions are included with the download and can be printed out and followed in a step by step manner.

If you would like to download this FREE template to help you detect allergic rhinitis in patients with asthma please click on the following link:
Download FREE Template

First study to show that children who have hayfever symptoms while taking their GCSE exams are 40% more likely to drop a grade between their mocks and final exams

An awareness-raising campaign entitled 'Unblock your potential' has been launched this summer by Schering Plough and is being endorsed by Education for Health. The campaign is based on our study published last summer which showed that young people with hayfever symptoms on an exam day were 40% more likely to drop a grade between their mock and final exams - a figure which jumped to 70% if they were taking sedating antihistamines (which accounted for nearly a third of those taking hayfever medication).

Two things you should be doing right now:

  1. Making sure that none of your patients with hayfever are taking sedating antihistamines
  2. Checking that all of your patients with hayfever (and where appropriate their parents or guardians) are using their nasal sprays or taking their tablets properly and know when and how to take them for optimal relief.

Dr Samantha Walker, who led the original study, also sits on the Standards of Care Committee which has developed the British Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (BSACI) guidelines for the management of allergic and non-allergic rhinitis. She hopes that the campaign will ensure that more healthcare professionals take hayfever seriously and said, "The new BSACI guidelines clearly recommend topical nasal corticosteroids as the treatment of choice for moderate to severe disease and state that treatment failure may be related to poor technique in the use of nasal sprays and drops. If successful, the 'Unblock your potential' campaign will mean that more health professionals will recognise hayfever symptoms more often, get more patients on more effective treatments and ensure that those patients understand how and when to take those treatments for optimal relief of their symptoms."

Click here for a summary of the original research, key facts about hayfever and links to our allergy training...

If you are interested to know more about the 'Unblock Your Potential' Campaign, which is aimed at school nurses and health professionals in primary care, a resource pack has been sent to school nurses and other primary healthcare professionals, including all of Education for Health's current membership.

If you would like to receive additional packs or posters, please email your requirements to: unblockyourpotential@hhealth.com

Education with a Future - film now showing

This short film, Education with a future, was created because the NHS Alliance wanted to highlight how an innovative attitude and pioneering approach can be harnessed to meet the challenges of caring for 18 million people who have long term conditions.

Our mission and achievement is to be at the forefront of professional clinical excellence in cardiovascular disease, diabetes, respiratory and allergic disease. To continue to set and promote standards of best practice and to continue to establish practice nursing as the profession and recognised career choice for providing front line care which makes a real difference to patients’ lives.

At a time when the NHS is facing challenge and crisis, our story and reputation seems to consistently cut through and offer real and relevant ways for health professionals and managers to move forward. Last year alone more than 4200 health professionals across thousands of practices, wards and communities chose distance learning with Education for Health to help them deliver their part of the long term conditions agenda.

This year we celebrate 20 years of pioneering education in primary care. We were proud to be asked to showcase our story, and are delighted to be able to share it with you here.

View film now showing...

Please note: Film uses MS Media Player V11. To avoid downloading time we have streamed the film so there is a good balance between download speed and quality. The minimum connection that you need to view the video is 512kb (slowest broadband connection).