Simulation and Skills Training

At the Princess Royal Hospital simulation-based training is mainly delivered in the David Read Simulation Suite on the second floor of the main building. The suite is fitted with clinical simulation equipment and houses human patient simulators, mannequins who can talk, have chest sounds, heart sounds, pulse and blood pressure.

The mannequins are operated from the sound-proof control room with one-way mirrored glass. The training scenarios can be recorded as well as live streamed to the lecture theatres in the Euan Keat Education Centre.

To find out more about the David Read Simulation Suite or to book the facility please contact bsuh.simPRH@nhs.net,call us on 01444 441 881 ext 5832 or follow us on @BSUHSimulation.

Training in theatre for surgical, trauma and A&E teams is delivered in our designated theatre in Hurstwood Park. In addition to technical skills, staff are trained in teamwork, communication, judgment and leadership. Training lists are organised by a variety of departments, including the Anesthetics, Ear Nose and Throat, Maxillofacial, as well as General Surgery.

For more information please contact bsuh.simPRH@nhs.net or call us on 01444 441 881 ext 5832 or 8746.

The Childrens Simulation Centre is located on Level 4 of the Royal Alex Childrens Hospital in Brighton. The Centre is well stocked with audio visual equipment for recording simulation scenarios in high definition. High fidelity simulators are available for use as well as a mobile SMOTS AV system which can also support in-situ simulation in other parts of the Trust.

For more information, please contact bsuh.sim@nhs.net or click here.

The clinical skills room at the Audrey Emerton Building is managed by Helen Flanagan, Clinical Skills Facilitator at Brighton and Sussex Medical School (BSMS). For more information, please contact H.Flanagan@bsms.ac.uk.

Our next Laparoscopy Training Week at the Princess Royal Hospital will run from 14th-21st May 2021. For 5 days surgeons in training from the Kent, Surrey and Sussex Region will practice laparoscopic procedures and techniques on animal tissue using Storz training stacks and Ethicon harmonics/diathermy.

Training groups from General Surgery, Obs & Gynae and Urology will make use of the equipment for procedures including Lap Chole, Lap nephrectomy, salpingectomy, salpingostomy, cystectomy, Heller’s myotomy and fundoplication as well as Lap suturing .

For more information, please contact bsuh.simPRH@nhs.net.

The Medical Education Centre runs a series of Regional Simulation Days for Core Surgical Trainees, in co-operation with HEE-KSS.

Due to the current social distancing regulations we had to amend the workshop programmes to allow for small group training sessions.

13th November 2020: Hip and Knee Replacement Workshop (PRH)

20th November 2020: Tracheostomies/Surgical Skills: Neurosurgery, Urology, Breast Surgery (PRH)

11th December 2020: Vascular Anastomosis/ Basics of Cardiac surgery (PRH)

February 2021: Paediatric Surgery (RACH)- cancelled

February 2021: Basics of Anaesthesia for CST (PRH) – cancelled

14th May 2021: Laparoscopy Skills (PRH)

17th May 2021: Urology (PRH)

For more information, please contact bsuh.simPRH@nhs.net.

In co-operation with BSMS and HEE KSS we deliver three MRCS preparation courses at the BSMS Anatomy Lab in Falmer.

We have adapted our course to social distancing regulations and hope to run the next session in September 2021.

For more information, please contact bsuh.simPRH@nhs.net

We run our ST3 Interview preparation course for T&O trainees in co-operation with HEE-KSS. The day starts with short lectures on trauma surgery, after which the participants rotate through 7 skills stations, modelled on the ST3 interview process.

The training day concludes with a Q&A session and top tips on interview preparation and technique.

Our next course will be in January/ February 2022 at the Princess Royal Hospital. For more information, please contact bsuh.simprh@nhs.net.

We regularly run Basic Surgical Skills sessions for a variety of staff groups throughout the trust. Amongst other procedures, training sessions include gloving and gowning, instrument handling, sutures and suturing, local anaesthetic, excision of skin lesions using synthetic training materials as well as animal tissue.

For more information or if you are interested in running a session yourself, please contact bsuh.simPRH@nhs.net to discuss your requirements.

We regularly run Laparoscopy Skills sessions for trainees at all skill levels, as well as for theatre staff.

If you are interested in running a session yourself, please contact bsuh.simPRH@nhs.net to discuss your requirements.

We run the Royal College of Surgeons’ course ATLS (Advanced Trauma Life Support) twice a year at the Royal Sussex County Hospital. This two-day interactive course teaches a systematic process of trauma care for patients with life-threatening injuries.

https://www.rcseng.ac.uk/education-and-exams/courses/search/advanced-trauma-life-support-atls-provider-programme/

Once a year we run the Royal College of Surgeons’ course CCrISP-Care of Critically Ill Surgical Patient, a two-day course which includes 4-8 skills stations per day. To pass the course candidates have to complete an assessed moulage at the end of day 2. https://www.rcseng.ac.uk/education-and-exams/courses/search/care-of-the-critically-ill-surgical-patient-ccrisp/

For more information please contact bsuh.simPRH@nhs.net

We run our BASIC ITU course, a long running SBE course for Anaesthetists and Intensive Care doctors twice yearly. The 2-day course was developed by the Chinese University of Hong Kong and features 5 skills stations per day. To help continue the course throughout the COVID pandemic, the authors developed online learning materials and reduced face to face teaching to one day. We plan to run the course again in September/ October 2021. For more information please see https://www.aic.cuhk.edu.hk/basic/country.php

This multidisciplinary course is delivered four times per year by the BSUH Stroke team. The training is directed towards A&E and stroke nurses, HCA’s, as well as doctors, training them to assess patients presenting with an acute stroke for thrombolysis. Candidates also practice how to respond to a stroke call.

This multidisciplinary course is a co-operation between the Royal Surrey County Hospital, Ashford and St Peter’s Hospital, Western Sussex Hospitals and the SECAMB ‘Simbulance’. The course is delivered four times per year at the Princess Royal Hospital and teaches candidates best practice in transferring unwell patients.

The course was developed by the Sussex Trauma Network to train doctors and nursing staff in leading trauma teams in response to a wide range of emergencies.
The course runs twice a year and covers skills training at the beginning, followed by a series of relevant scenarios

Foundation and CMT/IMT Trainees benefit from regular skills sessions that form part of their weekly teaching programme. The sessions cover a variety of topics, including CVC insertion, chest drains, knee aspiration, shoulder injections, NG feeding tube insertion, basic airway management, communication and team working skills, PACES exam practice, etc.

If you are interested in designing or running a session, please contact bsuh.simPRH@nhs.net to discuss your requirements.

The MRCP(UK) Part 2 Clinical Examination (Practical Assessment of Clinical Examination Skills – PACES) is designed to test the clinical knowledge and skills of trainee doctors who hope to enter higher specialist training (ST3). As one of their UK testing centres we run the exams once a year on behalf of the Royal College of Physicians.