Children’s hospice announces exciting new training development

Published on: 11/09/2020

Thanks to several generous individuals and trusts, an innovative and interactive paediatric simulator, SimJunior® was recently delivered to Chestnut Tree House, the children’s hospice for Sussex and South East Hampshire.

This cutting-edge piece of training equipment is a first for the hospice and will enable the team to further enhance their skills, ensuring they are equipped to continue providing the best care possible to children and young people with life-shortening conditions.

The complexities of children’s needs in palliative care is a constantly changing landscape, and SimJunior will help the hospice care team to keep up to date with the latest developments and advance their clinical skills.

“SimJunior is a really exciting development for Chestnut Tree House,” says Anna Jones, Clinical Manager at the children’s hospice.

“The full-body simulator represents a six-year-old boy and simulates a wide range of conditions from a healthy, talking child to an unresponsive, critical patient with deteriorating vital signs.

“SimJunior will allow us to gain practical experience and advance our clinical skills on the cardiovascular, neurological, and respiratory systems through utilising simple clinical skills training as well as high fidelity scenario training.”

“Being able to offer the best possible care and support to families is why we do what we do, and this simulator will certainly help us to be able to do that – allowing us to advance our skills and meet the changing care needs of children and young people.”

As well as using simulation training for the hospice care team, Chestnut Tree House are looking forward to working collaboratively with other health care providers to assist them in meeting the complexities of children’s palliative care in the community.

“We are keen to offer simulation training to local hospices and hospitals in order to encourage shared learning across the region,” says Melissa Hancorn, Clinical Manager at Chestnut Tree House.

“By delivering high fidelity training, together, we can advance our skills in a safe environment so that we ensure children and young people can receive the best quality of care possible.”

Anna continues, “I’d like to say a massive thank you to everyone for their ongoing support. Your donations and fundraising make children’s hospice care possible.

“As well as covering the cost of running Chestnut Tree House and our specialist care services, your generosity ensures that the team has access to the best training possible so that we can continue providing top quality care for the children and young people who need us.”