Improving Performance in Practice (iPiP)
Increasing CO awareness among health and social care professionals
Our project at a glance
- Participating GDNs: Cadent, Northern Gas Networks, SGN and Wales & West Utilities
- Strategic priority area: Reducing carbon monoxide harm
- Support target: 382,934 households over 28 months
- Duration: January 2024 – April 2026
- Investment: £190,850 over 28 months
- Forecast SROI: £18.63
Why we’re working together
Awareness of the dangers of carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning is low among health and social care professionals. This is particularly an issue when these frontline workers are supporting groups most vulnerable to the impacts of CO poisoning, such as pregnant women and older people.
The symptoms of CO can be non-specific and often mimic other conditions. Health and social care teams need more knowledge about the signs of CO poisoning, as well as the resources to ensure anyone they identify as being exposed to CO can quickly receive any required treatment and is protected from future harm.
By partnering with Improving Performance in Practice (iPiP), we’re empowering frontline health and social care workers to understand the dangers of CO poisoning through a new online training programme within the elearning for healthcare platform.
Project objectives
- Providing NHS and social care workers with high-quality training to better identify people exposed to carbon monoxide
- Reducing CO harm among older people and pregnant women
- Improving identification of CO as a cause or contributing factor to death
How we’re working together
Carbon monoxide awareness
Our new carbon monoxide e-learning programme aims to ensure NHS and social care workers have access to high-quality, evidence-based training to better identify people exposed to carbon monoxide.
We’re developing four e-learning modules that will educate healthcare professionals on how to identify potential CO poisoning and how to reduce the risk. Two of the modules will be specifically focused on the risks to pregnant women and older people, who are two of the groups most vulnerable to CO poisoning.
We also aim to improve the identification of carbon monoxide as a cause or contributing factor to death with a dedicated module for medical examiners. By better understanding instances of carbon monoxide poisoning, it will help ensure that CO-related deaths are more accurately recorded and monitored.
Our new modules will be available on the national elearning for healthcare platform, which is available 24/7 to health and social care workers across the NHS and in the private sector.