Please note, this programme of work has been completed and is no longer being updated. The below information is provided for reference only. If you would like more information on this programme, please get in touch.
Support to Care Homes across Wessex from Wessex PSC
Wessex PSC is working to support Care Homes across Wessex to manage unwell residents. There are a variety of free online training and resources available to help your team implement tools such as RESTORE2 and RESTORE2mini and we are also able to provide advice and guidance about these tools, virtual (video-based) staff training and other related approaches, including for example Soft Signs, the National Early Warning Score (NEWS2), the SBARD communication tool and End of Life considerations.
Some of these resources are available from other sites (listed below) and others can be downloaded from the Resources Zone on the right hand side of this webpage.
RESTORE2 and RESTORE2mini video presentations for Carers, Trainers and Managers
Wessex PSC have recorded training sessions for RESTORE2 and RESTORE2mini which can be delivered virtually to support the implementation of these tools in your care setting.
The video presentations can be viewed on the Health Innovation Wessex YouTube channel at:
The slide decks used as the basis for these training presentations can be downloaded from the Resources Zone on the right of this webpage.
RESTORE2 and RESTORE2mini Interactive Toolkit (Health Innovation South West)
The Health Innovation South West has developed an
interactive toolkit to support the roll-out of RESTORE2 and RESTORE2mini, training in the South West. It features in-depth guidance, templates, and resources, and an interactive display version is available.
RESTORE2mini Online Training (Health Innovation South West)
RESTORE2mini online training, developed by Health Innovation South West, Blue Stream Academy, and the Somerset LARCH (Listening and Responding to Care Homes) team enables nursing and care professionals to gain new deterioration management skills and improved knowledge and understanding of the people for whom they care.
This free training resource is for all carers, accessible 24/7 online, to help provide better care across health and care environments.
Online video based NEWS2 and Deterioration training for community and care home staff (HEE)
Health Innovation Wessex and Health Innovation West of England have collaborated with West Hampshire CCG (RESTORE2) and Health Education England to produce a series of free videos and e-learning materials to support staff working in care homes to care for residents who are at risk of deterioration.
A series of short videos (around 3 minutes each) describe how to take measurements from residents correctly (such as blood pressure and oxygen saturation), spots the soft signs of deterioration, and prevent the spread of infection.
Natasha Swinscoe, national lead for patient safety for the Health Innovation Network says "I am excited to see the launch of these videos, which will support care home staff to be trained in a consistent way to recognise and respond to the soft signs of deterioration”.
The videos include:
- Introduction to sepsis and serious illness
- Preventing the spread of infection
- Soft signs of deterioration
- NEWS what is it?
- Measuring the respiratory rate
- Measuring oxygen saturation
- Measuring blood pressure
- Measuring the heart rate
- Measuring level of alertness
- How to measure temperature
- Calculating and recording a NEWS score
- Structured communication and escalation
- Treatment escalation plans and resuscitation
- Recognising deterioration in people with with a learning disability
The videos can also be viewed via Health Education England’s e-Learning for Healthcare (e-LfH) Hub which is an educational web-based platform that provides quality assured online training content for the UK’s health and care workforce. Guidance on how to obtain an e-Learning for Health account is provided at the bottom of this webpage.
Online video based NEWS2 and Deterioration training for carers of people with a learning disability
Health Innovation Wessex, Health Innovation West of England, West Hampshire CCG, and Health Education England have also collaborated to re-film 7 of the videos listed above specifically to support carers of people with a learning disability.
Continuing the concept of short videos (around 3 minutes each) focussed on specific aspects of care these videos are more appropriate for the learning disability care sector.
The videos include:
1. Soft signs of being unwell
2. Telling someone you are worried (SBARD)
3. How to measure someone's oxygen levels
4. How to measure how fast someone is breathing
5. How to measure someone's heart rate
6. How to take someone's temperature
7. How to take someone's blood pressure
The videos can be viewed at Health Education England's YouTube channel.
Health Innovation Wessex and West Hampshire CCG RESTORE2 video resources
A series of 6 videos about implementing and using RESTORE2 in Care Home settings together with some case study based scenarios can be viewed on our RESTORE2 webpage.
Hydration in Older People
Health Innovation Wessex has worked in collaboration with Hampshire County Council to produce the Hydration at Home Toolkit, which includes an E-learning module and we are delighted that the Hydration at Home e-learning module and Toolkit has been endorsed by the British Dietetic Association.
Hydration for Older People - the E-learning module
The e-learning module is designed for community carers of any role or level (including care homes, domiciliary care workers, unpaid carers and volunteers). The module provides a basic overview of the hydration needs specifically for older people and how you can support people to drink more. It also aims to dispel common myths, such as why using urine colour or skin turgor (pinch test) are NOT suitable for older people.
The e-learning module has the following features:
Four sections: 1) Define good and poor hydration and explain their impact, 2) Assess a person's hydration needs to minimise the risk of poor hydration, 3) Address a person's hydration needs to improve their health and wellbeing, 4) Assessment
Takes approx. 40 mins to complete
Includes an assessment at the end where you can test your knowledge and obtain a certificate
Can be accessed via computer, laptop, tablet or smartphone
Hydration for Older People - PowerPoint Slides
Cares and Trainers can also access The Hydration for Older people training materials as a PowerPoint slide deck or a PDF document, both of which can be downloaded from the Resource Zone on the right of this webpage.
Key Resources
The Hydration toolkit contains numerous resources including:
Staying hydrated as we get older (tri-fold leaflet)
Staying hydrated as we get older (A4 Large Print version)
Improving your Hydration - Top Tips (A4) (A4 Poster)
Improving your Hydration - Top Tips (A3) (A3 Poster)
Further Information
More information about the Hydration toolkit and associated resources can be viewed at: Hydration at Home Toolkit.
London Care Homes Resource Pack (LCAG / NHSE)
The NHS London Out of Hospital Cell, London Clinical Networks, London Directors of Public Health and Adult Social Care, Health Innovation Network and Public Health England are collaborating to provide practical guidance to assist the care and support vulnerable adults receive during COVID-19.
The London Clinical Advisory Group (CAG) have approved an updated London Care Homes Resource Pack (LCAG 22 May 2020) which is designed to complement and not replace local guidance and professional judgement. The Resource Pack can be downloaded from the resources zone on this webpage.
The Better Care Fund (NHSE, MHCLG, DHSC and LGA)
The Better Care Fund (BCF) is a programme spanning both the NHS and local government which seeks to join-up health and care services, so that people can manage their own health and wellbeing, and live independently in their communities for as long as possible.
The BCF represents a unique collaboration between NHS England, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and the Local Government Association. The BCF works to improve the lives of some of the most vulnerable people in our society, placing them at the centre of their care and support, and providing them integrated health and social care services, resulting in an improved experience and better quality of life.
More information about the work of the BCF can be viewed on:
Other Health Innovation Wessex/PSC Workstreams
Full information about RESTORE2 and RESTORE2mini including training videos and downloadable resources can be found on our RESTORE2 webpage
ALERT (Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust)
ALERT (Acute Life Threatening Events Recognition & Treatment) is a multi-professional course designed to train staff in ecognising patient deterioration and acting appropriately in treating the acutely unwell.
ALERT HQ have developed a suite of courses for different care settings including: ALERT (Adult); ALERT Obstetrics; BEACH (for unregistered healthcare staff) and AWARE (healthcare support staff) plus an ALERT Train the Trainer course.
More information about the ALERT Programme can be found on the ALERT HQ website.
Other National HIN/PSC Resources
We have gathered over 30 examples of projects delivered by England’s 15 Patient Safety Collaboratives (PSCs) and the HINs which host them in care homes. The ’
Improving safety in care homes’ report includes case studies in medicines safety, dementia, monitoring and screening, and workforce development.
More resources and case studies developed by AHSNs to upskill people who work in care homes are listed below:
|
Good Hydration!
|
Health Innovation Oxford and Thames Valley's Good Hydration Toolkit designed by care homes for care homes to reduce urinary
tract infections (UTIs) through structured drinks rounds supported by animated videos, funded by Health Education England
|
|
What’s Best for Lily?
|
UCL Partners’ education resource “What’s Best for Lily”, designed specifically for care home staff, supporting
them to deliver excellent care for residents (including those with dementia
at the end of life).
|
|
National Early Warning Score 2
e-learning for care homes
|
Licenses are available to free for staff with an
nhs.net email address, and some funded licenses are available for free for
care home staff. Wessex based Care Homes can contact us via the link at the bottom of this webpage.
|
|
RESTORE2
|
HIW’s RESTORE2, a
physical deterioration and escalation tool for care/ nursing homes based on
NEWS2.
|
|
ReSPECT
|
Health Innovation West of England's ReSPECT training package covers awareness, action and having the conversation,
and is being adapted for a care home audience.
|
|
Human Factors for Care Homes
|
Health Innovation West of England's human factors training for care homes covering structured communication using
SBAR.
|
A ‘NEWS’ system for residential care settings (Sunderland CCG)
A multidisciplinary team from Sunderland CCG have developed and applied an electronic system based on an adaptation of the National Early Warning Score (NEWS) tool to support the monitoring of residents’ health. The system has improved residents outcomes and experience. More information about this project can be obtained from the NHSEs Atlas of Shared Learning.
Guidance
for care home staff to register for an e-Learning for Health account
To
register for e-Learning for Healthcare, visit the e-Learning for Health website
Select the
‘Register’ button. Select the option ‘I
am a care home or hospice worker’ then enter your care home / hospice name or
postcode and select it from the options available in the drop-down list.
Finally enter your care home / hospice registration code and select ‘Register’.
You may need to see your employer to get this code.
If your
employer does not have a code, then they need to contact the e-LfH SupportTeam. The Support Team can either give the employer the registration code or
arrange a bulk upload of all staff:
Detailed
instructions on how to gain access are also available on the e-Learning for Health website.
A quick start guide to the e-LfH
hub is available from the e-Learning for Health Support Team
Personalised Care Institute e-Learning
The Personalised Care Institute is a virtual organisation, accountable for setting the standards for evidence-based training in personalised care in England. They do this by educating and inspiring health and care professionals to deliver universal personalised care that takes into account an individual’s strengths, needs and expectations, in order to deliver the right care for them.
These free courses help to do this and are suitable for all health and care professionals, regardless of profession or seniority.
Skills for Care - Care Certificate
Skills for Care are a trusted independent charity with over 18 years’ experience in workforce development, working as a delivery partner for the Department of Health and Social Care. They also work closely with related services such as health and housing and are the membership organisation for registered managers.
The Care Certificate is an agreed set of standards that define the knowledge, skills and behaviours expected of specific job roles in the health and social care sectors. It's made up of the 15 minimum standards that should be covered if you are 'new to care' and should form part of a robust induction programme.
In addition to the Care Certificate workbook, they have developed a range of resources to help and inform you about the Care Certificate
here.
Care Provider Alliance - A guide on pulse oximetry for care homes
The Care Provider Alliance (CPA) is the collective, national voice of adult social care providers in England and have been a key figure in the COVID-19 Oximetry @home programme.
COVID-19 Oximetry @home services are supporting people to monitor their oxygen levels with pulse oximeters, including residents in care homes. This follows guidance to support remote monitoring, using pulse oximetry, of people with confirmed or possible COVID-19, including people living in care homes.
The CPA COVID-19 Oximetry @home service have provided some extra detail in terms of what this means for people who live and work in care homes. The main target audiences for this resource are care home managers and staff. It was originally published in February 2021 and updated in May 2021.
Further information on this workstream can be obtained via the contact link at the bottom of this page.
