Construction work to build a modern, purpose-built state-of-the-art Medical Clinical Skills Centre to promote excellence in medical training at Noble’s Hospital has begun. The recently established Medical Clinical Skills Charitable Trust has raised funds to enable this project to become a reality. The Centre will allow regular continuous timetabled medical training for all doctors on the Island, through the use of simulators and mannequins as well as allowing regular revision and update training for senior medical staff.
The Isle of Man Medical Research Charitable Trust, The Eric and Marion Scott Trust, The Microgaming Health and Care Trust, The Manx Stroke Foundation and other private donations have provided financial support for the development of the Medical Clinical Skills Centre which will be a two storey extension to the Keyll Darree Education and Training Centre, on the Noble’s Hospital estate. Further support from the Department of Health, the Director of Estates and the Attorney General’s Office has allowed smooth transition from the planning to the building phase. The Centre will be owned and administered by the Medical Clinical Skills Charitable Trust.
Minister for Health, Hon Howard Quayle MHK said:
'The Department fully supports the development of a dedicated Medical Clinical Skills Centre on the Noble’s Hospital site, which will offer significant benefits to medical professionals and in turn make an important contribution to patient safety. The UK Francis Report has highlighted the need for medical staff to have access to high quality training, and the extension to the Keyll Darree building for the Medical Skills Centre is a step towards fulfilling one of the many recommendations that the Department’s Francis Report Working Group identified recently. I thank the Medical Clinical Skills Charitable Trust and Dr Dashfield in particular for spearheading this project.'
Noble’s Hospital is an accredited UK training centre for a number of medical skills courses, including Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS), Ill Medical Patients Acute Care and Treatment (IMPACT) and Acute Life-threatening Events Recognition and Treatment (ALERT). The dedicated facilities for medical training will enable the provision of these recognised accredited UK training courses for groups of up to sixteen doctors at a time. These courses complement the work of the Learning Team at Keyll Darree in expanding many of the higher education and vocational training programmes, through links with the University of Chester and Manchester Metropolitan University.
Medical training is rapidly evolving with the increasing use of simulators to replicate the medical working environment. The use of medical simulators and resuscitation courses, complemented by lectures and seminars, allow medical staff to train in medical procedures and emergency care under controlled but realistic scenarios, along with ward and clinic supervision, all of which promote safer patient care. The delivery of state-of-the-art training to medical, senior nursing and paramedic staff on the Island will be possible at the Medical Clinical Skills Centre, which will be fully equipped to accommodate various medical simulations and scenarios.
Dr Adrian Dashfield, Director of Medical Education at Noble’s Hospital, has great enthusiasm for the expansion of medical education and training in the Isle of Man. He said:
'A Medical Clinical Skills Centre will undoubtedly be of great benefit by improving doctors’ clinical skills and therefore the acute care patients receive, and enhancing the already strong reputation of Noble’s Hospital as a place for doctors to come to train and work. This facility will enable the delivery of competency-based medical training for the Mersey Deanery postgraduate medical trainees who spend time on the Island and to ensure the statutory revalidation every 5 years, of all medical staff such as Consultants, Staff Grade and Specialty Doctors and General Practitioners.
'The Medical Clinical Skills Charitable Trust has raised funds to enable this project to become a reality and further donations to support this project are welcome.'
