Category Archives: NHS

Oxford Medical Simulation named one of 12 high-impact innovations to join the NHS Innovation Accelerator

Today, the NHS Innovation Accelerator (NIA) announces the 12 innovators (‘Fellows’) and innovations selected to join its award-winning programme in 2021.

These innovations offer solutions to some of the healthcare’s most pressing needs and will be supported over the next three years to scale across England for the benefit of NHS patients and staff.

This year, the NIA sought evidence-based innovations that address key NHS priorities: supporting the workforce, mental health and COVID-19 response. From remote patient monitoring and diagnostics to virtual clinical training for staff, the 2021 cohort represents a range of solutions that are set to transform the health and social care system in England.

Each innovation – and its representative Fellow – were selected through a robust, multi-stage assessment process involving a college of expert clinicians, patients and commercial leads drawn from a range of organisations including NHS England and NHS Improvement, NHSX, the Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs) and NICE.

In recognition of the new cohort, Professor Stephen Powis, Chair of the NIA and National Medical Director for NHS England and NHS Improvement, said:

“After a year like no other for the NHS, the importance of innovation has never been more critical to ensuring we remain able to care for NHS patients and staff effectively and efficiently.

The 12 innovations joining the NHS Innovation Accelerator in 2021 meet the needs of the NHS at this critical time and will be supported to scale across England for even greater patient benefit.”

OMS is delighted to have been successfully selected for the 2021 cohort. It is an exciting development for the company and we look forward to sharing further updates as they arise.

About the NHS Innovation Accelerator

The NHS Innovation Accelerator (NIA) is an award-winning NHS England initiative delivered in partnership with England’s 15 Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs), hosted at UCLPartners.

It supports delivery of the NHS Long Term Plan priorities by accelerating uptake of high impact innovations for patient, population and NHS staff benefit, and providing practical insights on spread to inform national strategy.

For more information about the NIA, visit www.nhsaccelerator.com or email [email protected]

For more information about Oxford Medical Simulation, visit www.oxfordmedicalsimulation.com/platform or use the contact form below

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Video: VR Simulation at Oxford University

VR medical simulation

Dr Sally Shiels discusses the value of VR simulation at the OxSTaR simulation centre in the Oxford University Hospital Trust

VR simulation

Dr. Sally Shiels is an anaesthetist at OxSTaR (Oxford Simulation, Teaching and Research), the purpose-built, state-of-the-art medical simulation teaching and research facility in Oxford University Hospital.

Sally discusses virtual reality’s impact on training for medical students and clinicians, how immersive technology is supporting patient safety, and the types of programs the OxSTaR center are developing.

“Providing our students with virtual patients has been an absolute sea change in terms of medical education” 

Using OMS has allowed OxSTaR to expand their training capabilities, preparing medical students more fully for clinical practice, in order to improve patient safety.

“We’re taking our students into a virtual world where they can learn safely, and that is really important, because then they feel safe to make mistakes.”

Learn more about the work Oxford University are doing with OMS using the link below, or see PharmaComms TV for the original content.

OxSTAR and VIRTUAL REALITY

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NHS doctors train using virtual reality to improve care for people with diabetes

The NHS England diabetes team has partnered with Oxford Medical Simulation to train doctors using virtual reality. Doctors can now practice in virtual reality medical emergencies, to improve care for patients with diabetes in the real world. Combining clinical expertise from the NHS, volunteer patient input and world leading virtual reality software, doctors can now put on virtual reality headsets and practice taking care of patients as often as they want, without risking lives. The system is being piloted through Health Education England in a multicentre trial in the South of England, with development funded by Novo Nordisk. If supported by evidence from the pilot there are plans for further roll-outs nationwide throughout 2019.

People with Type 1 diabetes have more chance of developing life-threatening complications when in hospital than outside it. For people with diabetes, extreme highs and lows in blood sugar can be fatal. These emergencies can be difficult for doctors and nurses to recognise but can be fatal if not treated quickly. High quality training for frontline staff is vital to improve patient care in these situations. “When I was in training we’d learn on the wards. It was called ‘see one, do one, teach one’, commented Dr Jack Pottle, an NHS clinical entrepreneur and co-founder of Oxford Medical Simulation, a virtual reality medical training company based in London. “I had never practiced managing a diabetic emergency until I had to do it in real life. You wouldn’t expect a pilot to fly a plane full of passengers without having practiced first. Why do we think that’s acceptable for doctors and nurses?”

Dr Partha Kar, NHS England Clinical Director of Diabetes said: “Embracing technology is at the heart of the NHS Long Term Plan and training doctors using virtual reality is another example of modernising the NHS to help improve care for patients with diabetes.” Individuals who helped to develop this project included Dr Mayank Patel, Dr Ritwika Mallik and Mr Neil Sweeney.

Margot James, Minister of State for Digital and Creative Industries said: “Oxford Medical Simulation is a great example of the ground-breaking digital companies that the UK is constantly producing, I was hugely impressed when I met the company and tried their technology earlier this year and it’s great that it will now provide training for doctors across the NHS as they treat patients with diabetes.”

For more information please contact: Dr Jack Pottle, Oxford Medical Simulation Tel UK: 07515 281397 Phone international: +44 7515 281397 Email: [email protected]

Oxford Medical Simulation delivers virtual reality medical training. Using Oculus Rift VR headsets, learners can practice in immersive, fully-interactive clinical scenarios as if in real life. They then receive personalised feedback and can repeat as often as they like to improve performance. These scenarios deliver consistently excellent, standardised clinical training for students, doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals. The focus is on clinical decision-making under pressure, crisis resource management, team interaction and patient engagement. Oxford Medical Simulation allows healthcare professionals to learn through practice, without risking patient lives, to improve patient care.