Opening of the Clinical Simulation & Interprofessional Education Facility and the Launch of the National Strategic Guide on the Implementation of Simulation on Clinical Sites

4^th March 2022 - Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly T.D. has officially opened the Clinical Simulation and Interprofessional Education Facility at NUI Galway.

The state-of-the-art space spans more than 1000m² and has more than 20 immersive learning rooms fitted out to hospital standard and simulating all aspects of a leading healthcare environment.

All training rooms are fitted with high-powered cameras and audiovisual equipment with remote and observation spaces for assessing and reviewing learning.

Patients are replaced by complex manikins with physiological characteristics that respond to medical treatments and procedures in safe and realistic environments.

Based at NUI Galway’s Clinical Science Institute, on the grounds of University Hospital Galway, it is the largest and most modern facility of its kind on a clinical site in Ireland.

The facility is a partnership between NUI Galway and Saolta University Healthcare Group.

Minster Donnelly said: “This new facility at NUI Galway is at the forefront of delivering the best quality teaching and learning for our medical students and healthcare providers. Healthcare simulation brings the students and professionals together in a modern methodology for training.

Healthcare simulation is an approach to training and education that aims to improve the safety, efficiency and effectiveness of clinical care through high impact, evidence-based training. There is growing evidence that it contributes to increased quality of patient care and survival.

NUI Galway’s Clinical Simulation and Interprofessional Education Facility is unique in its co-location on a clinical site and medical school. It includes:

• Skills labs, operating theatres, ICU space, emergency bays, in-patient wards, outpatient consultation rooms, delivery suites.
• Complex manikins range in age from premature infants to adults and maternity manikins simulate pregnancy and childbirth.
• Audio-visual system for recording training, streaming and linking to all areas of Saolta University Healthcare Group
• Education and training for more than 600 medical students in clinical years and accessible space for more than 4,000 multi-professional clinical staff in Galway University Hospitals.
• Observational rooms with one-way glass and multi-functional rooms with mobile furniture, easily switching from clinical to tutorial and debrief rooms.

The official opening took place alongside the launch of the National Strategic Guide for the Implementation of Simulation on Clinical Sites.

The National Chief Academic Officers, working with Dr Colm Henry, Health Service Executive Chief Clinical Officer, and the National Doctors Training and Planning, have championed simulation and the development of the guide.

Professor of Simulation Education Dara Byrne, School of Medicine, NUI Galway and Saolta University Healthcare Group and the simulation team at NUI Galway wrote the guide to support the strategic development of similar facilities on clinical sites in Ireland.

Professor Byrne said: “The old, apprentice-style of learning for healthcare students and clinicians is no longer considered acceptable because of the increasing concern for the quality of patient care and safety and change in health care systems.

The National Strategic Guide for the Implementation of Simulation on Clinical Sites provides a framework for the resourcing and delivery of sustainable simulation that is multi-professional with a focus in team training for patient safety.

It identifies the priority areas that should be addressed in establishing and delivering high quality healthcare simulation facilities, including human factors testing of new hospital equipment and medical devices before introduction to the clinical environment, of particular importance to the medtech industry in Galway.