About the Asthma programme
The e-Asthma programme is an interactive elearning resource for healthcare professionals which aims to improve the diagnosis and management of asthma as a long term condition for children and adults.
e-Asthma is a foundation level educational resource aimed at all healthcare professionals who come into contact with children or adults with asthma who are not asthma specialists. This includes GPs, practice nurses, pharmacists, community nurses, school nurses, ambulance staff, 0-19 teams and A&E staff.
Covering both paediatric and adult asthma diagnosis and management this programme aims to develop a healthcare professional’s knowledge and confidence in caring for patients with this long term condition, improving the quality of care received by children and adults.
More information
Among children in the UK, asthma is the most common chronic medical condition and the most common reason for an acute medical admission to hospital. Asthma UK estimates that there are currently 1.1 million children in the UK receiving treatment for asthma. It is predominantly a long term condition that should be appropriately diagnosed and managed within primary care.
Asthma is one of the top three reasons for emergency admissions to hospital and up to 75% of these admissions are avoidable. Asthma mortality is sadly increasing. Mortality rates from Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) nations (2010) show the UK rate (for all asthma) as the third highest in Europe. The National Review of Asthma Deaths (NRAD, May 2014) showed that in the UK there were 1,242 deaths from asthma in 2012, 21 of these in children aged less than 14 years. There are preventable factors in 90% of childhood deaths from asthma.
The achievable goal of freedom from asthma symptoms is not being met in many children and young people and paediatric asthma also pivots with adult respiratory conditions (asthma and COPD). In addition local audits have shown that the majority of primary care professionals do not feel confident in their management of asthma.
The e-Asthma programme aims to standardise the quality of asthma care for children and adults in line with NICE and NRAD recommendations. e-Asthma will train people to foundation level in the following areas of asthma diagnosis and management:
- Overview of asthma and its diagnosis
- Control and monitoring
- Managing asthma
- Acute asthma (managing asthma attacks)
- Supporting self-management
Project team
Louise Raybould
Project Manager, East of England Clinical Networks
Dr Linda Pearce
Clinical Director, East of England Clinical Networks
Viv Marsh
Content Author, Education for Health
Nicki Overton
Project Manager, Education for Health
Neha Baj
Content Development Lead, HEE elearning for healthcare
Andi Blackmore
Project Manager, HEE elearning for healthcare
Adult sessions
- Dr Linda Pearce
- Dr Mark Levy
- Ms Alison Roome
- Dr Suaib Nasser
- Viv Marsh
- Dr Louise Selby
- Dr Daryl Freeman
Children sessions
- Dr Linda Pearce
- Dr Mark Levy
- Ann McMurray
- Dr Melanie Clements
- Ms Alison Roome
- Viv Marsh
- Dr Louise Selby
- Ms Claudine Bryson
- Dr Richard Iles
How to access
In order to access the Asthma programme, you will need an elfh account. If you do not have one, then you can register by selecting the Register button below.
To view the Asthma 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.
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 Asthma 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.