Here you will find all the latest news from www.swastcpd.co.uk

Alzheimer’s Society Time for Dementia

Join Time for Dementia – an innovative, award winning training programme, designed to educate undergraduate healthcare professionals to improve their knowledge, attitude and empathy towards people with dementia and their carers. Improving future healthcare

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INSIGHT MRes Studentships

Following the success of our previous events, our ‘Be a Better Paramedic’ Student Paramedic Conference returns for another day of engaging, challenging and interesting CPD.
Join us on Saturday 2nd March 2024 for this fantastic event.

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Research Participation Opportunity for AHPs

Advancing Research Careers for Under-Recognised Groups in Allied Health Professions (AHPs) Across the Southwest – Phase 2 Participation Opportunity   Are you a Southwest Allied Health Professional from a global majority or a black, asian or minority ethnic background? Have you tried to navigate research opportunities?   Participation opportunity:  One off virtual 1:1 conversation to…

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CPD Survey 2024

CPD Survey 2024 We’d love to hear your thoughts At the start of each financial year, the team plan future Continious Professional Development (CPD) and we want to do so in a way which works best for you, including teaching delivery preference and areas of interest. To help us do that, we’d love to hear…

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Survey: Improvements to placements within SWAST

Measuring the impact of improvements to placements within SWAST Have you had involvement with placements, either as a student or an educator? You are invited to complete this short survey, which will help us measure the impact and promotion of recently implemented changes. By telling us know your thoughts, you’ll help us to tailor our…

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CPD SWAST Survey 2023-24

We need your help so that we can plan CPD that you want & need, in the way that you want it delivered.   Your feedback is important to us.   By taking less than 5 minutes to fill out this short survey, we will be in a better position to tailor our CPD offering…

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Opportunity – Fully Funded PhD Position (UWE)

Ambulance staff assessment of pain in people living with dementia An exciting opportunity to apply for a fully funded PhD position in the College of Arts, Technology and Environment, UWE Bristol.  Closing date: 30 June 2023 Interviews likely to take place: During August Anticipated Start Date:  1 October 2023.  Assessment of pain by ambulance staff…

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LGBTQ+ and CPD Survey

  We are looking to create a CPD session(s) to address the healthcare needs of the LGBTQ+ communities. The aim is to improve the quality of care these patients receive and provide our workforce with greater confidence in delivering this care. Please help us identify what you feel would be most valuable to learn by…

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OCSAS Survey Available to Complete for All SWAST Staff

The University of the West of England (UWE) are conducting a survey which will explore occupational stress among all SWASFT ambulance service staff. For a quick overview, please watch this short video: watch video We will ask about: stressors at work and their impact preferences for stress management support Your responses will help: Prioritise what…

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Mental Health Internship Awards – Applications Now Open

  The NIHR Applied Research Collaborations (ARC) Wessex are offering six internships specific to mental health research. These opportunities are open to anyone working in or with mental health or social care services across the Wessex region, including staff from NHS Trusts, universities, local government, health, social care or community care organisations, charities and the…

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Treating patients with supraventricular tachycardia (SVT)

*Bulletin on behalf of the Research Team* SVT is a regular narrow complex tachycardia, greater than 160 beats per minute. Patients may present with palpitations, chest pain, syncope or shortness of breath. The ECG below presents what SVT will looks like.     SVT can be treated using the Modified Valsalva Manoeuvre which is explained…

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South West Paramedics in Primary Care Conference – 25th March 2023

South West Paramedics in Primary Care Conference Saturday 25th March 2023 09:30-16:00 Venue: Taunton Racecourse   Confirmed speakers for this conference include: Helen Beaumont-Waters – Head Of Clinical Development For Primary And Urgent Care, College of Paramedics Dr Bridgette Carne – GP Rachel Hosznyak – Frailty Advanced Practitioner – Paramedic Dr Andrew Tressider – GP…

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HEE Placement Focus Groups for NQPs, Mentors, Supervisors and Assessors

HEE Placement Focus Groups for NQPs, Mentors, Supervisors and Assessors Health Education England are inviting Allied Health Professionals of all levels to join an online focus group. The overall aim of these focus groups is to develop an understanding and consensus on what ‘good’ looks like. The focus groups are intended to generate feedback, which…

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HEE Focus Group – 1st Dec 15:00

PARAMEDIC SCIENCE QUALITY REVIEW – Focus Group
This group will be part of the incentivised PEd update day on 1st Dec 2022 – if you sign up for the whole day you will be paid as per the normal arrangement for update days. Students can drop-in for the focus group at 15:00 in an unpaid capacity.

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HEI Module Places Still Available to Book

Places are still available on a selection of HEI modules These places will be available on a ‘first come, first served’ basis and can be booked by contacting CPD Admin. A list of the modules with available places on them will be released via our upcoming email campaigns for SWAST CPD.   *Please be advised…

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INTERNATIONAL PARAMEDICS DAY 2022

INTERNATIONAL PARAMEDICS DAY
The first ever International Paramedics Day will be held on 8th July 2022 to recognise and celebrate the work carried out by paramedics and first responders around the world.

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Mental health crisis workforce questionnaire

Mental health crisis workforce questionnaire *The closing date for the questionnaire is Friday 29th of July at 17:00* Funding will be allocated and training put in place as a direct result of the findings. This questionnaire is aimed at any individual who currently works with people experiencing a mental health crisis and will help us to…

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PARAMEDIC-3 research study

PARAMEDIC-3 research study PARAMEDIC-3 is an opportunity for paramedics to participate in a research study for patients in out of hospital cardiac arrest. Summary PARAMEDIC-3 hosted by Warwick Clinical Trials Unit is a multi-centre, individually randomised, superiority trial of an intraosseous access first strategy for adult patients who sustain an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Patients will…

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CPD Staff Survey for 2022 Now Open

  The CPD staff survey for 2022 is now open for you to have you say on how you feel about the many opportunities we have on offer. Completing this survey will give you a higher chance of seeing more of what you would really like to see us advertise. This could be either more…

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New UoC Job Opportunity Available for a Clinical Lecturer

  SWAST, in conjunction with the University of Cumbria, are seeking a clinical lecturer (seconded from the Trust) for the SWAST Paramedic apprenticeship programme. You will work with the SWAST Programme Leader (SL) and other clinical lecturers to deliver the University’s BSc (Hons) in Paramedic Science to SWAST members of staff who are undertaking the…

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UoC Practice Educator Development – Session 5 – ‘Failing to Fail’

  The University of Cumbria is providing a series of practice educator development sessions that are aimed at those involved with the support and education of apprentice paramedics in the clinical practice environment. It is hoped these sessions will also be valuable to other members of staff involved indirectly with supporting apprentice paramedics, or who have…

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CDEP Hypo Awareness Week Is Back For 2021

    Cambridge Diabetes Education Programme (CDEP) are pleased to announce the return of Hypo-Awareness Week for 2021. This awareness week is set to commence from Monday 13th September to Sunday 19th September. Hypos can be common in people living with insulin- or sulphonylurea-treated diabetes. They are a nuisance at best, but are often unpleasant…

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UWE Training & development awards 2020

The University of the West of England (UWE) is pleased to announce a small number of awards to support allied health professionals (AHPs), nurses and midwives to undertake health research training as part of their clinical academic development.

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*UPDATED* Bookable Training Opportunities for Gloucestershire County

There are now more bookable training opportunities and E-Learning opportunities now available for the Gloucestershire county ONLY. Staff who serve Gloucestershire patients in the Hub fall into this category. Please bear in mind that it is not us that provide these training opportunities, but Gloucestershire County itself! Whilst Gloucestershire County Council are not able to…

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Bookable Training Opportunities for Gloucestershire County

These advertised courses are only for staff who work in Gloucestershire as they are funded externally by Gloucestershire-based organisations (this is their stipulation). Whilst Gloucestershire County Council are not able to deliver our regular face to face training (yet), they have been actively working to source and develop resources to deliver live via online platforms. The following…

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Practice Placement Update for all Practice Educators

We would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your continued hard work in providing a quality placement for all students! As your Practice Placement Co-coordinator (PPC) team, we would like to update you on the work we have been doing towards getting students from all of our partner universities returning to…

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Bookable Training Opportunities for Gloucestershire County

These advertised courses are only for staff who work in Gloucestershire as they are funded externally by Gloucestershire-based organisations (this is their stipulation). Whilst Gloucestershire County Council are not able to deliver our regular face to face training (yet), they have been actively working to source and develop resources to deliver live via online platforms. The following…

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New! More sites added to Online resources

New sites added to Online Resources page New websites have been added to the Online resources page. This page has lots of really useful signposts to online education materials, reference websites, exam practice tools, & lots more! If you find an out of date resource or broken link, or something that shouldn’t be up there…

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High Frequency Callers Video

Frequent Callers Health & Science Research UK video presentation The Trust’s Frequent Caller Team have been invited to the Health and Science Research UK Conference this year. Below is the pre-recorded session related to High Intensity Users. We hope this will give you an insight into work being done nationally relating to service users that…

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New! Changes to Calendar view

New- CHANGES to the  Calendar view of courses Some changes have been made to avoid confusion when booking courses – Only the Day 1 of courses with multiple days will show on the clander from now on e.g. A 3 day course with attendance days on : • 01/01/21 • 10/01/21 • 20/01/21 Will now…

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New! More sites added to Online resources

New sites added to Online Resources page New websites have been added to the Online resources page. This page has lots of really useful signposts to online education materials, reference websites, exam practice tools, & lots more! If you find an out of date resource or broken link, or something that shouldn’t be up there…

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UWE DIP HE / DLP Temporary Register SWASFT FAQs

  UWE DLP (Dip HE) Temporary Register SWASFT FAQs Please see the below email communication that was sent out on the 11th May to DLP students. You can also Download a PDF of the FAQs here related to staff enrolled on the DLP (Dip HE) program with UWE. ‘We are aware that a number of…

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UoP 3rd yrs 2020 on film

  UoP 3rd yrs 2020 on film These lovely people are Year 3 students from the University of Plymouth who are either entering the Temporary Paramedic register early or becoming Emergency Care Assistants to help the trust during the COVID-19 pandemic. They’ll be out and about on the road soon! So please make them welcome, and…

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UWE DIP HE OSCEs – Cohort 6 & 8

  SWAST & UWE collaborative working Cohorts 6 & 8 of SWAST Dip HE (ECA to Paramedic) students were about to reach the end of their course when COVID 19 threw a spanner in the works. UWE had to be closed just when they were about to attend and complete their final OSCEs. SWAST and…

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UWE advice to students re: course queries

UWE Paramedic Science guidance – Students There are a lot of queries at the moment regarding assessments, module materials and other matters related to your studies. A key message is that:  students will NOT be disadvantaged as a result of the current situation. Please ensure that you engage with Blackboard and keep up to date with…

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*UoP Mentorship module moves ONLINE**

 Click here to apply for the UoP Mentorship (L6 Accredited module) – now online The UoP Mentorship module has now moved to a virtual classroom as we adjust to Covid life. This course is a fully accredited UoP Level 6 module – it will require 4 days online attendance with submission of an assignment. Please…

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New! Student & Practice Educator page

    STUDENT & PRACTICE EDUCATOR PAGE We have now launched a new Student & Practice Educator (PE) page! Here you will find links to all things Student & PE replicating the Mentor resources page on the intranet, but now accessible from any device. As well as this, we will be using these pages to post…

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Do you want to develop your Leadership Skills?

Would you like to be able to enhance the wellbeing, performance and development of others and help others to help themselves? If so, this five day course coordinated by the Human Resources department will equip you with the skills to lead your teams using a coaching style, with a strong focus on supporting and maintaining…

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Great Western Air Ambulance Charity Symposium 2019

A one day symposium focusing on a range of topics related to Pre-Hospital Emergency Medicine including keynote talks from Professor David Lockey, Chairman of FPHC and National Director of EMRTS Wales and Ms Esther Murray, Senior Lecturer in Health Psychology at Queen Mary University of London. Friday 4th October 08:30 – 16.30 at Aerospace Bristol…

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HEE South West Good Practice Event ‘It’s all in the conversation’

  Health Education England are hosting a multi-professional free event to share good practice from across the South West region. The event will take place from 09:30-16:00 on Wednesday 17th July 2019 at Park House, 1200 Parkway, Bristol, BS34 8YU. Share examples of good practice in effective communication focussing on the training and education environment Some…

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Digital Learning Solutions – IT Skills for the Workplace

The IT Skills Pathway has had an upgrade! Digital Learning Solutions (formerly The IT Skills Pathway) provides easy to use, customisable IT training and assessments covering the full range of competencies for users of the main Microsoft Office products, from basic through to advanced. It has been developed to provide an officially recognised route of…

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#TuneIn Inclusion Gloucestershire – Communication Project

In difficult situations some people find it harder to communicate, Inclusion Gloucestershire’s #TuneIn project will be working with emergency services to support organisations in thinking about the things that get in the way of good communication, and what support can be provided to tell others what help they need. A #TuneIn Wristband means someone may…

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‘Back to Basics’ in house CPD sessions

‘Back to Basics’ in house CPD sessions Written & delivered by SWAST Learning & Development Officers; these events will offer a real ‘Back 2 Basics’ refresher course in a variety of subjects to all staff. We aim to deliver at least 1 of each session in each of the 8 operational County areas. Sessions planned…

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Email subscription service

Email subscription news We are trying out an email subscription service function. The idea being that if you sign up, you will receive an email notification as soon new Higher Education (HE) modules are released, Short Course dates and updates are released, and any new website resources. The software is new to us, so we…

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Email updates subscription service -test

We are playing around with setting up an email subscription service. The idea being that will pick up new posts and content as it is added, and email you if you sign up to a mailing list. This is a test post to see if the email subscription service plug in will will pick it…

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Paramedics needed for the PRESTO Study

The Pre-hospital Evaluation of Sensitive Troponin (PRESTO) study If you are a Paramedic and convey patients to Musgrove Park, Southmead, Royal Devon & Exeter or Derriford Emergency Departments you can participate in the PRESTO study. Chest pain is the most common reason for emergency hospital admission with 1.3 million patients presenting with chest pain in England…

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zero suicide alliance

Zero Suicide Alliance – Suicide Prevention

Zero Suicide Alliance The Zero Suicide Alliance is a collaborative of National Health Service trusts, businesses and individuals who are all committed to suicide prevention in the UK and beyond. The alliance is ultimately concerned with improving support for people contemplating suicide by raising awareness of and promoting FREE suicide prevention training which is accessible…

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BMJ Best Practice: Clinical Decision Support Tool

A new Clinical decision support tool from BMJ including evidence-based research, guidelines and expert opinion is now available to all SWASFT staff and students on placement from April 2019 for three years (purchased by Health Education England). To access please visit https://bestpractice.bmj.com/oafed You will need a SWASFT NHS Athens account to access. Once logged in you…

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Thank you

Today we received a lovely thank you from a Paramedic who completed their BSc using funded Modules, accessed via www.swast.cpd.co.uk This made our day to see that we have helped someone achieve academic success. We know it involved a lot of hard work and commitment from them and want to celebrate their success. Well done! Hi I’m not…

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Mind’s Blue Light Programme – support for emergency services

Mind’s independent research shows that members of the emergency services are even more at risk of experiencing a mental health problem than the general population, but are less likely to seek support. Mind is delivering the Blue Light Programme to provide mental health support for emergency services staff and volunteers from ambulance, fire, police and search…

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AIRWAYS-2 Dissemination Day: Free to all AIRWAYS-2 Paramedics

The Results of AIRWAYS-2 – What does it all mean? The AIRWAYS-2 team are hosting a free educational event in London for all the paramedics who contributed to the success of the AIRWAYS-2 research study on Wednesday 26 September at Cavendish Venues in London. The day will include the results of AIRWAYS-2, the results of the Pragmatic Airway…

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Government loans for education

Masters Loan You can also apply for a loan to study an MSc . This type of loan can be used to complete a Masters program in most areas. You will need to check your eligibility , and it will need to be a full Masters course. (it can be part time).

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Making Sense of Health Research Annual NIHR CLAHRC Conference

NIHR CLAHRC South West Peninsula invite you to attend their free Making Sense of Health Research 1 day Conference on Friday 16th November 2018 at Buckfast Abbey Dr David Nunan, the lead tutor for the internationally renowned Teaching Evidence-Based Medicine course provided by the Centre for Evidence Based Medicine, University of Oxford, will be this year’s key note speaker. To find out how our…

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Welcome to SWAST CPD

We’re excited to have launched the brand new SWAST CPD website. The new site includes changes to navigation, with improved menu and filtering functions that direct you to the information most relevant to you on both mobile and desktop versions. We’ve also improved the structure of our content and simplified the booking process so you’ll get…

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SWASFT Survey 2018

The SWASFT staff, friends & family survey is now open until 29 June 2018. Visit membra.co.uk/swasft1 to provide your feedback and help improve our services.

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Safeguarding: Adverse childhood experiences (ACES)

What are adverse childhood experiences (ACEs)? The term Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) is used to describe a wide range of stressful or traumatic experiences that children can be exposed to whilst growing up.  ACEs range from experiences that directly harm a child (such as suffering physical, verbal or sexual abuse, and physical or emotional neglect)…

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Kieth's story

Safeguarding: Keith’s story- Hoarding

Keith’s story; a personal and touching film about hoarding The Birmingham Safeguarding Adults Board has produced a film to raise awareness of hoarding and to guide professionals on what kinds of interventions seem to work the best so that the people affected (both the person who hoards and other people whose lives this impacts upon)…

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Geriatric Care: Risking Happiness Video

Jointly commissioning by Gloucestershire CCG and Gloucestershire County Council, ‘Risking Happiness’ was created by the Reckless Kettle Theatre Company and The Roses Theatre in 2015. The characters and story of the play are fictitious, but the process of writing it drew from real people, situations and experiences. The purpose of the play has been to…

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Dementia Awareness Video – Barbara’s Story

Created by nurses at Guy’s and St Thomas’ to raise awareness of dementia among staff, Barbara’s Story has changed attitudes to dementia in hospitals across the world. Barbara’s Story follows a fictional patient who has symptoms of dementia, and explores the challenges she faces when she comes into contact with NHS staff at home and…

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CPD & Reflective Practice

Continuing professional development (CPD) is the way in which you continue to learn and develop throughout your career, ensuring your skills and knowledge are up to date enabling you to practice safely and effectively. CPD is not just formal courses. A CPD activity is any activity from which you learn and develop such as; Work-based learning. For example, reflecting…

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IT Skills Training – Free for all staff

IT Skills Pathway Distance Learning The IT Skills Pathway provides easy to use, customisable IT training and assessments covering the full range of competencies for users of the main Microsoft Office products, from basic through to advanced. It has been developed to provide an officially recognised route of learning and certification for the whole workforce. This…

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End of Life Care and Human Rights: A Practitioner’s Guide

A Human Rights Guide to End of Life Sue Ryder has worked with the British Institute of Human Rights (BIHR) to produce a Human Rights Guide to End of Life. This guide is designed to be a dip-in resource with practical examples and case studies to explain how human rights apply in everyday situations. The…

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FOAM: Free Open Access Medical Education

What is FOAM? FOAM is Free Open Access Medical Education; a collection of resources, a community and an ethos. The FOAM community spontaneously emerged from the collection of constantly evolving, collaborative and interactive open access medical education resources being distributed on the web. FOAM is independent of platform or media — it includes blogs, podcasts,…

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Free online resource for OSCE Exams

OSCEstop is a free, one-stop online resource for comprehensive notes on medical school finals OSCE exams OSCEstop aims to help healthcare professionals improve their clinical examination and practical skills. Notes on all of the essential skills and detail on all of the stations likely to come up in OSCE examinations are provided to help you acquire and maintain…

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Free E-Learning for Paramedics

A contemporary learning programme designed for the ‘modern paramedic’ was launched on the 9th May 2017 and can be accessed for free. This is Phase 1 of 2, more modules are under development. The project has been undertaken in partnership with Health Education England’s e-Learning for Healthcare team (e-LfH) who develop clinically credible online learning for health professionals. Bite-sized Sessions…

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National Early Warning Score ‘NEWS’ Short Film

The West of England Academic Health Science Network (AHSN) are working with all members of the West of England Patient Safety Collaborative to encourage the use of a single national early warning score; ‘NEWS’, across the region. All the acute trusts, out-of-hours GP services, mental health trusts, community service providers and clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) in the West…

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Khan academy

FREE E-learning on a wide range of subjects

Some great FREE E-learning on a wide range of subjects. Levels to suit ALL staff! The Khan Academy’s mission is to provide a free, world-class education to anyone, anywhere on wide range of subjects. It offers a personalised learning resource with practice exercises, instructional videos, and a personalised learning on subjects including Advanced Placement Biology,…

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Interested in research? Join the CAHPR mailing list!

Who are CAHPR? We are a network of researchers from a broad range of allied health professions (AHP), including Paramedics, who have joined together to support and develop AHP research, strengthen evidence of the value and impact of our professions and enable our professions to speak with one voice on research issues. We are supported…

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Be careful using the F-word with frail patients

2017 saw the introduction of a new requirement for GPs to routinely identify frailty in patients as part of the new GP GMS contract. Ahead of this Professor Martin J Vernon, NHS England’s National Clinical Director for Older People and Person Centred Integrated Care reflects on the language we use when treating older patients; “George Orwell…

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