£100k digital upgrade set to boost hospital ambitions
Healthcare professionals at a Staffordshire hospital trust are to benefit from almost £100,000 to develop a state-of-the-art digital hub.
The postgraduate medical centre (PGMC) at County Hospital, in Stafford, has been given the cash boost to upgrade technology.
It will give staff at the University Hospitals of North Midlands (UHNM) NHS Trust the opportunity to access the best digital tools to support learning and professional development.
The centre is already home to an extended reality laboratory (ERL) which provides a projected space for simulated learning as well as a multimedia studio and provides a range of inter-professional programmes that are intended to support the development needs of all medical and non-medical staff.
Dr Mark Poulson, associate medical director for postgraduate medical and dental education, said: “The intention is to make the PGMC a cutting-edge digital hub and remote learning centre by using some of the latest technology on the market.
"It’s a connected approach and builds on the advances we have made with the ERL and Multimedia studio within the building, while keeping usability as a number one priority.”
New technology is being funded by the PGMC Charity and will allow each of the teaching rooms to be used as a remote presentation facility both for simulations in the ERL or between PGMC and Royal Stoke University Hospital. Improvements will facilitate the connection of rooms within the PGMC so that smaller groups can watch lectures and teaching taking place in the lecture theatre, ERL or another room and also include the introduction of touchscreen computers, integrated audio with HD webcams and microphones.
Dr Poulson added: “We are grateful for funding from PGMC Charity’s to improve facilities and help us continue our journey to create a cutting-edge digital hub for learning and professional development.
"The current state of the rooms at the PGMC has made them difficult to use with the emerging trend for virtual education which we have had to adapt to during Covid-19. We are confident our workforce will benefit for years to come following these advances.”
