Technology placed at the heart of patient safety training at national awards

The Patient Safety Awards, which recognise outstanding practice across healthcare, took place in Birmingham in July 2015. Virtual College sponsored the Education and Training in Patient Safety Award and was invited to be on the judging panel to represent the important role technology and online training plays in the healthcare sector.Virtual College's Judith Clarkson, presenting the award to the Royal Brompton Hospital NHS Foundation TrustThe Patient Safety Awards took place alongside the Patient Safety Congress in Birmingham this month. Now in their 7th year, the Awards recognise outstanding practice across healthcare. This year 750 submissions were made across 17 categories.Virtual College sponsored the Education and Training in Patient Safety Award and was invited to be on the judging panel to represent the important role technology and online training plays in the healthcare sector. The winner was Royal Brompton Hospital NHS Foundation Trust for their ‘Simulated interPRofessional Team Training (SPRinT)’ programme.SPRinT is based in the paediatric intensive care unit and uses the most advanced simulation mannequins to recreate realistic life threatening events. The training provides an invaluable insight into human factors that can influence personal performance. So far SPRinT has delivered the training to over 1530 participants across 11 disciplines.On presenting the award, Judith Clarkson, Health and Social Care Divisional Director at Virtual College, commented: “This was a truly excellent presentation from Royal Brompton Hospital and a pleasure to listen to.”“The training was certainly innovative and, more importantly, has resulted in some great improvements.”Virtual College was also invited to present on the ‘Live Learning Stage’ where they spoke about the importance of quality e-learning and the background to the National Patient Safety Suite of online training that currently has over 280,000 registered learners.To find out more about the National Patient Safety Suite visit www.healthcareea.co.uk.About Virtual CollegeVirtual College has developed into one of the UK's leading providers of total solutions within the e-learning arena. Its key objective is to help enhance the traditional learning solution through the careful integration of technology.Founded in 1995, today Virtual College has over 1.75 million registered online learners and this is growing at a rate of over 1,000 a day, across both public and private sectors. The company has developed a comprehensive product range, including over 300 online courses, accessed via the company's own Learning Management System, as well as offering a complete content design and development service. Further information is available at www.virtual-college.co.uk.