A £480,000 Mobile Simulation Teaching Unit has been delivered to Lancaster Medical School to help train medical students, anaesthesia associates and NHS staff.
Funded by both Health Education England and Lancaster University, the Unit is the first of its kind in England.
The Head of Lancaster Medical School Professor Marina Anderson said: "It's essential that we develop innovative ways to equip our doctors of the future with the skills they need to deliver excellent healthcare to all. Our Mobile Simulation Teaching Unit is an exciting new resource that will allow us to take cutting-edge clinical education out to the community that we serve."
The Mobile Simulation Teaching Unit contains eight patient trolleys which can be occupied by either manikins or simulated patients. Students can practice diagnosis, communication and treatment as part of their training.
The interior can be changed to simulate different medical environments such as an emergency department resuscitation room, operating theatre or hospital ward.
The manikins simulate clinical findings, display vital signs such as heart rate and blood pressure, and students can use them to practice skills such as taking blood or inserting urinary catheters. They are even programmed with basic expressions such as "my tummy hurts" and can respond to simple questions with a "yes" or "no"
Dr Cliff Shelton, Director of Simulation and Clinical Skills at Lancaster Medical School, said: "We can decide which illnesses the manikins will have and set them up with signs of that illness. You could have one manikin with a broken leg, and another having a heart attack, for example. We can help the students learn to prioritise tasks, diagnose and treat problems, and communicate effectively with patients and colleagues.
"This has the advantage that we can ensure that the students learn to manage situations that they may struggle to access on traditional placements because they are rare or high-stakes.
"The medical students are also not practicing on real patients so there is no risk, and the students feel safer to make mistakes and learn from them. A key element of this type of training is the debrief when we reflect on what happened, and look at how any treatment can be improved."
Health Education England's Regional Director for the North West Chris Cutts said: "It has been an absolute honour for us at Health Education England to work with our colleagues at Lancaster Medical School in funding this exciting and cutting-edge Mobile Simulation Teaching Unit.
"We are dedicated to educating and upskilling students and healthcare providers, and firmly believe that simulation-based training as a complement to face-to-face practice yields better learning, and in turn better patient outcomes, which is our ultimate goal.
"We are confident that students will benefit from the unit and that it will prepare them for the roles they are going to undertake when they graduate and start their own careers in health and social care."
The Mobile Simulation Teaching Unit can also be used to help train the NHS workforce across North Lancashire and South Cumbria.
Dr Shelton said: "What is really exciting is the potential to go out and visit local hospitals and communities and work with other institutions to engage in multi-professional training. For example, we could take the Unit out to Barrow or Kendal and train NHS staff or student nurses alongside our own students, and we are in preliminary discussions about this."
Lancaster Medical School already supports the NHS workforce in the North of England through its Anaesthesia Associate Blended Learning Programme to reduce long waiting times for NHS surgery.
The Medical School is ranked 13th in the UK and 1st for Student Satisfaction in the Complete University Guide 2024.
The Guide also ranks Biomedical Science at Lancaster 2nd in the UK and 4th for Student satisfaction while Sports and Exercise Science is ranked 10th in the UK and 1st for Student Satisfaction.
