News from our partners: State-of-the-art ‘real life’ manikins will help train medical staff at SaTH

News from our partners Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH)

Two new state-of-the-art ‘real life’ manikins – that speak, blink and even bleed – will help train healthcare professionals, and those of the future, at Shropshire’s two acute hospitals.

They will be used in a new Simulation Suite which will officially be opened at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital (RSH) this week.

The Suite is based within the Copthorne Building and will be opened by the Mayor of Shrewsbury, Councillor Peter Nutting, on Friday 25 January. It is part of SaTH’s ongoing commitment to educating and training its current staff and the next generation of medical professionals.

The new Suite replicates a clinical environment, but is risk free, and enables teams to work together and respond to a vast number of different medical scenarios. It will be used for the training and education of healthcare workers – including junior doctors, nurses, advanced healthcare practitioners, healthcare assistants and medical students.

The two new manikins will be able simulate medical emergencies such as epileptic fits or septic shock, as well as display more subtle signs of medical distress.

Dr Jenni Rowlands, Director of Post Graduate Education at SaTH, said:

“The suite is a space to practice high fidelity simulation with two state-of-the-art 3G manikins that speak, blink and perform all the bodily functions that you can think of!

“It is to be used in undergraduate and postgraduate medical education and in a multi-professional way to get the reality of team working in a ward-based environment but with it being risk free, and fully supportive.

“As well as drill-type practice, the evaluation and observation of ‘human factors’ such as working as a team to look after and communicate with distressed relatives during the assessment and treatment of patients, is invaluable. After the exercise, the team is then able to debrief and discuss what went well, and how they responded to those human factors.”

It is hoped that in the future the new suite will be able to offer external courses, making it a dedicated Simulation Centre for Shropshire.

Dr Rowlands added:

“We are committed to producing the best education at SaTH and that is why we have created this dedicated simulation faculty.

“Hopefully that will have a ripple effect, which will be heard across the West Midlands, that we value education and training and that we value our staff.”