Sick Kids doctors to benefit from £25,000 manikin fund

SOPHISTICATED life-sized manikins will help children's doctors hone their skills thanks to a £25,000 boost.

Dr Kathryn Macain, Dr Daniel Hufton, Lesley Thomson, Laura Skyme and Cheryl Payne. Picture: contributed

The Sick Kids Hospital has received funding to purchase realistic child dolls that can replicate scenarios to help doctors prepare for life-threatening situations.

Donated by the Sick Kids Friends Foundation (SKFF), the manikins are used for simulation training (SIM) so medics can learn more about treating young patients.

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Dr Edward Doyle, medical director for Women’s and Children’s Services at NHS Lothian, said: “We are grateful to the Sick Kids Friends Foundation for their support.

“These will help improve patient care by playing a vital role in training.

“They will help us to ensure our clinicians and nursing staff are prepared for even the most testing scenarios.

“They are vital pieces of equipment and, with them, we can create situations that put all of the staff’s skills to the test while they remain in a safe and educational environment.

“It means that when a real-life situation does occur, they will be prepared and have the ability to deal with it effectively and calmly.”

The dedicated charity awarded grants to enhance nine areas of the hospital last year, including the addition of a new bereavement suite and improved accident and emergency waiting rooms.

Construction is currently under way on a state-of-the-art facility in Little France, which is expected to open its doors in 2017.

The £150 million development will also house the Department of Clinical Neurosciences and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) within a purpose-built building.

Roslyn Neely, chief executive of the Sick Kids Friends Foundation, said: “We were very pleased to be able to help fund the new manikins for the Sick Kids Hospital and help improve the training sessions that doctors require to gain further expert knowledge in their field.

“As a result of the grants provided by the SKFF, children and young people’s lives are less interrupted by illness; they are less scared of hospital and have a positive experience.

“This is just one of the ways in which we achieve this.”

The charity has shelled out for dozens of home comforts to help make hospital stays less difficult for some of the Capital’s sickest 
children.

These include grants for toys, DVD players or iPads, arts & crafts and the Beads of Courage programme, where children use colourful beads to create a record of all the procedures they have gone through in hospital.

The foundation has also funded around 20 pieces of equipment to improve the care of young patients.

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