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NHS Scotland Academy Summer Newsletter

Welcome to the NHS Scotland Academy Summer Newsletter!

Skills and Simulation Centre officially open

L-R Chief Executive of NHS Golden Jubilee Gordon James, NHS Education for Scotland Chair David Garbut, Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care Neil Grey, NHS Golden Jubilee Chair Susan Douglas-Scott

Health Secretary Neil Gray officially opened the NHS Scotland Academy Skills and Simulation Centre at the Golden Jubilee University National Hospital in partnership with NHS Education for Scotland in May 2024.

The custom-built centre provides state-of-the-art training and education facilities to practitioners including an array of advanced simulators. The centre replicates real-world environments where learners can hone their skills in a safe, controlled setting.

During its first year of operation it’s expected that the centre will train more than 800 healthcare staff, helping to accelerate training for in-demand areas of the NHS workforce.

Health Secretary Neil Gray said: “Harnessing the latest technology is an important part of our plan to reform and recover Scotland’s NHS.

“It’s exciting to see how the innovations in the Skills and Simulation Centre will be used to accelerate training skills by providing unprecedented hands-on experience.

“The NHS workforce is our greatest asset and that is why it’s so important to invest in their training and development.

“Quicker and more effective training will help to improve diagnostic accuracy and therefore patient outcomes as well as address workforce pressures and aid retention of staff across NHS Scotland.”

Click here to read more

National Bronchoscopy and Endobronchial Ultrasound Training Programme

Thanks to seed funding from the Scottish Government’s Detect Cancer Earlier Programme, a new pioneering training programme that aims to significantly improve the speed of diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer patients across Scotland is being developed by the National Endoscopy Training Programme.

The National Bronchoscopy Training Programme will develop state-of-the-art bronchoscopy training for 45 NHS Scotland respiratory trainees and trainers, resulting in improved diagnosis of illnesses, including cancer, and accelerated treatment and care.

The training will use realistic simulation technology for faster and more focused initial training.

The team have also begun delivering an advanced programme for Endobronchial Ultrasound (EBUS) to help upskill trainees and consultants across Scotland. This training is key in achieving better outcomes for lung cancer patients, advancing essential mediastinal staging and offering an improved standard of care.

Click here to read more

To view Scotland’s lung optimal cancer diagnostic pathway, visit CfSD lung cancer pathway   

National Ultrasound Training Programme Masterclass Success

The NHS Scotland Academy’s National Ultrasound Training Programme has now hosted 3 Masterclasses for Gynaecology and upper and lower Deep Vein Thrombosis.

Each Masterclass has been packed with informative presentations, question and answer sessions and incorporated hands-on simulation and real life scanning and examination practical sessions in the new NHS Scotland Academy Skills and Simulation Centre.

Attendees included radiographers and sonographers from across NHS Scotland, including NHS Borders, NHS Highland, NHS Forth Valley and NHS Tayside, and each masterclass received excellent feedback.

Feedback included:

  • “I thoroughly enjoyed the event and all the speakers were exceptional.”
  • “Was a very interesting day and gained valuable knowledge and skills as well as being involved with discussions to see where the services can be improved.”
  • “Really friendly learning environment – excellent to have the practical session in such a nice facility. Really glad I attended, felt like I learned a lot and have already adapted my scanning technique/procedure for this examination. Thank you.”

The next National Ultrasound Training Masterclass will take place on 19 August from 9am – 4pm in the Skills and Simulation Centre and will focus on upper limb DVT.

If you would like to register your place, please email nhsscotlandacademy@nhs.scot

NHS Scotland Event

This year the key theme of the NHS Scotland Event 2024 was ‘Planning for the Future: Delivering Health and Care Services through Innovation and Collaboration’.

NHS Scotland Academy was represented by Senior Specialist Lead, Claire Lindsay and Clinical Lead, Morag Stout from the National Ultrasound Training Programme.

The team showcased their poster ‘Building a sustainable training model with a focus on efficiency and patient care’ which covered the success of the ongoing National Ultrasound Training programme being delivered at NHS Golden Jubilee.

The programme has now helped to deliver over 9,000 ultrasound examinations for patients across Scotland and has provided training to over 50 ultrasonographers through a hub and spoke approach, helping increase ultrasound capacity.

Click here to find out more about the National Ultrasound Training Programme

Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) Preparation resources

The NMC OSCE online resources continue to benefit learners and educators from across Scotland, with resources being accessed by over 1,700 learners.

The online resources provide tailored content for nurse educators and international nurses preparing for the nursing and midwifery NMC OSCE.

Developed in collaboration with NHS Boards the resources feature a range of modules, simulated-based learning and a mock exam to build on learners and educators existing knowledge.

Click here to find out more about the NMC OSCE online resources

Programmes recruiting now

Programmes are now opening for recruitment. 

National Perioperative Training programmes:

Spaces for our Perioperative Programmes are allocated by the Scottish Government on a first come first served basis and must be applied for by your Health Board.

Individuals are not able to apply directly – your employer will apply on your behalf. 

The relevant clinical/theatre manager within your Health Board is responsible for submitting applications on your behalf. If you are not sure who to contact, please email us at nhsscotlandacademy@nhs.scot.

NHS Scotland Academy Summer Newsletter

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