The Friends of Savernake Hospital and the Community are supporting Wiltshire Health and Care (WH&C) in setting up a Learning and Development Hub for nursing staff on Savernake Hospital’s Ailesbury and Chestnut Wards. The Friends have committed funds of over £4,500.
WH&C plan to create a modern and innovative learning environment on the ward. This will include a permanent “simulation training” room where apprentice nurses and trained clinicians can practice and refresh their skills on mannikins within a mock in-patient bay, including responding to life-threating and emergency situations.
WH&C anticipate that the new learning hub will not only attract new recruits, but that the supportive continuous learning provision on-site will secure long term nursing staff and reduce the need for agency nursing staff. They have already successfully applied for funding from Health Education England to support the salary of a Practice Learning Nurse who will be responsible for teaching in the hub.
The grant money to be provided by the Friends will be used to purchase laptops, an intravenous arm to allow for the taking of bloods and cannulation, simulation catheterisation models, a full nursing mannikin, anatomical charts and furniture.
With more technical study courses expected shortly with the phasing in of ‘T’-levels (geared primarily for 16-19 year olds), colleges have already been approaching WH&C about nursing apprentice courses. WH&C would like to see Savernake Hospital quickly becoming a recognised learning location for apprentice nurses. It is also hoped that local GP surgeries – where staff also have ongoing training requirements – might also make use of the training facilities.
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As part of a broader Ailesbury ‘Transformation’ project by WH&C (which has already seen the ward separated into distinct units – Chestnut (rehabilitation) and Ailesbury (general medical)), the Friends recently provided a grant of over £2,600 to WH&C for the purchase of a variety of much-needed rehabilitation and dementia assistance equipment, as well as a separate grant of £900 last year for the purchase of physiotherapy stairs.
