Before the pandemic, just like NHS Trusts up and down the country, Simon Themba, Moving and Handling Lead at Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust (CPFT), used volunteers in his training to represent patients.
When social distancing was introduced, all of the close contact parts of the training were required to stop. Instead, videos were used in place of physical practice, but Simon knew he needed to find a better solution to train his staff in the coming months.
That’s when Simon discovered the Patient Handling manikin and quickly made the decision to introduce the manikin into his Moving and Handling training.
Switching to using manikins bought a whole new level of experience to training, making it safer for staff but also more realistic, describing it as a “very exciting product to be using”. He found that the manikins better represented a ‘passive’ or ‘non-co-operative’ patient and gave his staff a more realistic training experience when using the equipment.
Since restrictions have been lifted, Simon continues to use manikins in his training, finding that having the manikins available not only heightens the quality and outcomes of his training but also offers a solution to “reduce some of the challenging scenarios” that can occur between trainers and trainees.
To find out more about the Patient Handling manikin please click here, or get in touch here or call 01490 413282 for more information or to book a free demonstration.