About the Musculoskeletal primary care programme
The Musculoskeletal (MSK) primary care elearning programme has been developed to support clinicians working in primary care as first contact practitioners (FCP) in a primary care environment. In a primary care setting it has been reported that a GP will see 25% of their case load as MSK in origin and it has also been highlighted that using the wider workforce, such as physiotherapists, can improve outcomes, give high patient satisfaction, save time and ultimately costs. To support these new models of care organisations have been aligned, through community services, with primary care to develop new pathways of patient management. In doing so there is a need for appropriate training and governance to support staff moving into these new forms of practice.
The MSK core capabilities document, developed by Health Education England (HEE) and in collaboration with numerous national bodies, outlines the expected clinical capabilities that a competent clinician should be able to demonstrate when working as an FCP in primary care. NHS England has made a number of proposals in how expanding the primary care workforce and using the wider clinical community will not only improve the support for primary care, but also get the right patient seeing the right clinician at the right time.
In order to meet the training needs for this group of clinicians, HEE funded the development of a training package of elearning sessions to support primary care practice in MSK. The package is intended as a resource to support clinical competency assessment and sign off through a clinical training programme. The package provides eight elearning sessions that look to take the learner through a range of particular primary care issues that are commonly seen as part of an MSK FCP assessment.
Each elearning session takes approximately 20 to 30 minutes to complete and includes, knowledge checks and self-assessments to enable the user to check progress throughout each course. The new resource can be used on smart phones, laptops and tablets and a record of your progress will be recorded for your records.
More information
The elearning programme consists of 8 sessions;
Each module includes a self-assessment and a certificate of completion.
Meet the team
Jonathan Guy
Senior Project Manager, HEE elearning for healthcare
Alice Denham
Lead Learning Designer, HEE elearning for healthcare
Steve Hewitt
Learning Designer, HEE elearning for healthcare
Victoria Ward
Learning Designer, HEE elearning for healthcare
Authoring team
- Dr Neil Langridge, Clinical Lead and Consultant Physiotherapist, Musculoskeletal Services, Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust
- Dr Greg Warner, Medical Lead, Orthopaedic Choice, Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust
- Esther Clift, Consultant Practitioner in Frailty, Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust
- Dr Sheila Hardy, Waller Trainer, Practice Nurse Educator, Charlie Waller Memorial Trust
- Amanda Hensman-Crook, Consultant Physiotherapist, One Medical Group and Central Lakes Medical Group
- Matt Low, Consultant Physiotherapist, Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Gill Rawlinson, Principal Lecturer, University of Central Lancashire
- Linda Hindle, Deputy Chief Allied Health Professional Officer, Public Health England
- Justin Strain, Clinical Specialist Physiotherapist, Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust
- Kathryn Marcus, Clinical Specialist Physiotherapist, Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust
- Dave Baker, Specialist Physiotherapist, Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
- Laura Finucane, Consultant Physiotherapist, Sussex MSK Partnership
- Dr Sue Greenhalgh, Consultant Physiotherapist, Bolton NHS Foundation Trust
- Chris Mercer, Consultant Physiotherapist, Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Jack March, Rheumatology Clinical Lead, Chews Health
- Anya de Iongh, Person-Centred Approaches Expert, working as an associate with HEE
- Petrea Fagan, Person-Centred Approaches Expert, working as an associate with HEE
How to access
In order to access the Musculoskeletal primary care 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 Musculoskeletal primary care 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 Musculoskeletal primary care 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.