The mannequin in simulation practice
A NEW piece of equipment is helping the simulation team at Blackpool Victoria Hospital develop enhance Laparoscopy Surgery skills among its staff.
The Trust’s Simulation and Skills unit has recently obtained a Laparoscopy abdomen mannequin which was provided by a company called ‘Limbs and Things.’ The Bristol-based company is using the donation to help promote the equipment by showing how it is used in a teaching hospital.
Laparoscopy is a type of surgical procedure that allows a surgeon to access the inside of the abdomen and pelvis without having to make large incisions in the skin.
Mark Hatch, Simulation Lead for Blackpool teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “This is the first time we have used the mannequin in this form of training.
“The old ‘SimMom’ training mannequin has now become slightly outdated and she has been replaced by ‘Lucina’ who provides maternity simulation training.
“We are putting ‘SimMom’ to good use now by replacing parts of the system to enhance surgical training which is much more realistic to a surgical setting.
“It is important for teams to train together as they would usually train in their own professions, but in surgery there are a variety of staff roles.
“The idea is for us to offer flexible training to staff and to get members of a multi-disciplinary team together such as a scrub nurses, surgeons and anaesthetics. This will enable staff to train effectively.
“The training and Laparoscopy procedure is very common in the surgical field. We want to hold regular simulation sessions for staff to become confident to apply their skills.
“There is also the opportunity for us to offer staff ‘Insitu’ simulation where the training can be set up in a realistic surgical setting, rather than the simulation suite.
“We are trialling the session to find out whether staff want to run sessions regularly depending on the feedback we receive”.
Mike Dickinson, Clinical Skills Manager, added: “We are making use of an older mannequin we had who has limited use due to technological advances.
“We are in partnership with the company ‘Limbs and Things’ who have kindly provided us with the training equipment.
“We are very grateful and plan to use the mannequins effectively in the Trust with our staff to promote and gain great training results”.