North Central London Network AHP Simulation Mash Up
Ingredients:
1 x light bulb of an idea
1x £8000 of HEE Funding
6 x Train the trainer courses
7 x Experienced AHP Critical Care faculty members
Sprinkle of enthusiasm
Equipment:
1 x Fully functioning SIM Suite
1x brain of a clinical simulation co-ordinator
When the opportunity to bid for money available to upskill AHP’s in critical care arose, we had less than 24 hours to identify ways in which we could do this. Beth Tennant (Simulation and Clinical Skills Manager) at UCH was keen for an AHP Simulation course to be designed and delivered across the NCL Network. She had seen AHP courses being run before but not specifically in our network, or for Critical Care.
Thankfully, the bid was successful and allocated to UCLH (University College London Hospital) to provide, along with 12 places for train the trainer teaching accessible to the network. We knew that one of the key things we needed to do, was to have a cross network faculty made up of AHP’s working in Critical Care to help design and deliver this new Simulation Course.
As an AHP critical care network, we have been working hard to meet a couple of times a year to share work, educational opportunities and provide a widespread support to each other rather than working in silo. This made it relatively easy to reach out for people who were interested in being involved in this project. It was imperative that we had representation from the four core professions – Speech and Language therapists, Occupational therapists, Physiotherapists and Dietitians. The aim was also to have representations from as many trusts within the NCL Network too, this ensured that we had a good breadth of experience and knowledge of education requirements.
Step 1 was completed, and we had formed a great faculty, many of whom had no experience delivering simulation-based learning. Shared aims and objectives needed to be established early on to ensure we all shared the same vision. Collaboration was key and with the help of Dan (SIM clinical co-ordinator at UCH) we had the bare bones of an idea to create scenarios that would follow the patients journey through a critical care stay from start to finish. This allowed us to write profession specific scenarios to complement each other.
One of our main worries was ensuring that all the scenarios had learning benefits for all the delegates, and this has been one of the faculties biggest learning curves as we realised it was all in the debrief!
After many Teams meetings and advertising across the network, we had 2 dates booked and a full count of AHP’s with little experience working in Critical Care keen to attend. We thought it would be wise to do a dress rehearsal first which gave us all the opportunity to meet, try out the scenarios, meet our actor who would play ‘Norman’, make mistakes and most of all, have fun!
I could not be prouder of what we have achieved. We have had fantastic feedback from the delegates who attended and have been lucky enough to secure more funding from the NCL Critical Care Network to run 2 more days this year. We have showed that collaborative, cross network and professional education works, and it has only cemented the building of relations within Critical Care. AHP education and development needs to be supported and our vision is that simulation training becomes accessible for all in the future.
Alison Gordon
Clinical Specialist Physiotherapist Critical Care. University College of London Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Faculty Comments;
I feel very lucky to have been involved in this project over the last year, and immensely proud of what we have achieved. Learning more about simulation-based techniques and the value of safe, effectively facilitated debriefing has sparked many ideas about the progression of AHP education and development across a range of clinical areas. I am excited to see how what we have learnt so far will continue to drive forwards prioritising and supporting our professions, within Critical Care and beyond.
Grace Burfield. Highly Specialised Speech and Language Therapist, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery (NHNN)
This opportunity to expand my SIM based education skills as a faculty member has been invaluable to not only develop strong links across the NCL network but also to develop the future of the AHP workforce in a safe and exciting environment. I look forward to seeing how we can evolve this further.
Ailsa Carmichael, Physiotherapist NHNN
‘Being invited to work on this project, develop my skills, and create partnerships across the NCL has been incredibly valuable. I found working collaboratively across the NCL has been the highlight of this project as it enables opportunity for further learning and partnerships which historically have been challenging to foster. The project has been amazing to be a part of and given ideas for further education development across the NCL and within the Trust.’
Meghan Billingham – Advanced OT North Middlesex University Hospital