The Swindon & Wiltshire Innovative Technology Care Hub (SWITCH) is a collaboration between New College Swindon and Wiltshire College to enhance and upskill health and social care staff across Swindon, Wiltshire and beyond.
SWITCH will accelerate skills development in health, care and life science through immersive technologies such as augmented reality and virtual reality, where learners ‘learn by doing’ rather than by simply watching. Embedding reality technology allows us to offer unparalleled simulation activities across a broad provision for job roles within hospitals, care homes and beyond. We have learning hubs within both New College Swindon and Wiltshire College and University Centre.
We can come to your setting with our equipment and run scenarios to assess and develop best practice. For example, one of our trainers can arrange with a manager to utilise a spare room or shared space for us to set up a scenario with AV recording equipment and an advanced manikin. In doing so, we can simulate scenarios such as seizure, heart attack, resuscitation, anaphylaxis or stroke. We can then press the emergency bell and see what the staff do in real time. In addition, we can use the recording to debrief the staff and analyse their responses in a constructive way to improve the quality of care.
Our ‘family’ of manikins include a baby, children and adults which enable us to use the appropriate age or group of patients to meet your needs. For example, we can have a parent in the bed and an upset child next to them to see how the soft skills such as compassion and empathy are used to support the care provided.
We offer unparalleled simulation activities, including: