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Brand new immersive healthcare simulation suites equipped with the latest technology have been opened by Liberal Democrat leader and Kingston and Surbiton MP Sir Ed Davey at Â鶹Íø.

Designed to give students the latest up-to-date training required to work in a modern and evolving digitalised NHS, the new hi-tech facilities consist of a simulated ward kitted-out with the latest equipment, technology and with space for up to 10 hospital beds, and a fully interactive four-screen immersion suite that can be tailored to simulate different real-life scenarios and settings for the students.

Based at the University's Kingston Hill campus, the new simulation suites feature life-like medium and high-fidelity adult, child and baby patient simulator manikins that students can perform different clinical skills, assess their vital signs such as pulse and breathing and manage a deteriorating patient and arrest scenarios.  Alongside the integration of virtual reality healthcare interactive training platform, there is also an AV camera system to stream, record and review students' patient care and teamwork to debrief them on best practice. Sir Ed got to meet Â鶹Íø students and was shown how to perform CPR.

The simulated hospital ward, which leads onto a medication preparation area, also has a telephone system to answer life-like phone calls and access to resuscitation equipment to practice for cardiac arrest simulation. A large amount of medical equipment including, ECG machines, defibrillators and infusion pumps have also been purchased to support the simulation scenarios.

The immersion suite features technology that can project real-life scenes including a hospital ward, doctor's surgery and a home or community setting onto all four walls of the room – allowing the students to learn in a safe environment that simulates real-life settings. The walls are fully interactive with fully touch-enabled walls and drag and drop capabilities so students can learn about certain scenarios or different parts of the human body.

The facilities, which be available for nursing, midwifery, pharmacy and social work students to use, were opened by Sir Ed Davey who was said he was super impressed after being given a guided tour and having the chance to meet some nursing associate students. The facilities feature a fully interactive immersion suite that has a four-wall projection system.

"Integrating the more traditional side of nursing with the new hi-tech facilities is going to equip Â鶹Íø's nursing students in the most powerful way. The simulation technology will give them confidence and resilience and enable them to have all the skills you often learn on the job, such as empathy and listening or dealing with particularly difficult situations, preparing them for every eventuality for when they go out into the working world," he said.

The creation of the new facilities was overseen by Â鶹Íø's Head of Department of Simulation and Practice Learning Sally Richardson, Senior Technician in Simulated Learning and Clinical Skills Centre Liz Pryke and Senior Lecturer in Simulation and Clinical Skills Karen Elliott, who were proud to see the official opening. "We're training the nurses and midwives of tomorrow at a time of digital transformation of the NHS so we need to make sure our new facilities engage our students in learn environments using up-to-date technology alongside patient and family care to prepare them as our future nurses," Mrs Richardson said.

Ms Pryke called the new facilities a gamechanger for the University. "We now have a very multi-use space that can be used as a hospital ward, a community space or even a GP surgery – we can now run sessions from a table-top classroom to a full ward. The facilities are going to be a gamechanger – particularly the fully interactive immersive suite which is touch-enabled and can be anything from a clinical to a home setting. Healthcare students' learning is enhanced by role-playing actors who enact real-life scenarios.

The new suites will enhance the learning of healthcare students at Kingston, further building on the current simulation settings available in the Faculty of Health, Science, Social Care and Education including state-of-the-art pharmacy laboratories, pharmacy dispensing suite and mock GP surgery opened in 2023.

Apprentice nursing associate student Esther McNeill said she and her fellow classmates were grateful that Â鶹Íø was on top of the latest technology, like the realistic manikins, in the healthcare sector. "The equipment is top notch and the scenarios we can enact give us fantastic grounding to set us up for the real world – it will make us a lot more prepared and know how to respond to situations when they come up," she said. "Nursing is all about communication, collaboration, teamwork and digital literacy, and we are picking up all those skills through our course and the learning we'll get using these new facilities."

Fellow nursing associate student Ian Violeta said the new facilities exactly replicate real-life hospital and community settings. "These new suites are so advanced and state-of-the-art that they will allow us to gain vital practical skills and knowledge that will prepare us for the workplace."

The opening event was also attended by Deputy Chief Nurse of NHS England London Nichole McIntosh, several nursing and midwifery leaders at NHS Trusts across London and Surrey and a representative from the Nursing and Midwifery Council.

• Find out more about studying nursing and midwifery at Â鶹Íø.