Training

COSMIC funds an annual programme of training across our units and this will be a key priority for the clinical staff and the charity in the future helping to develop, retain and attract the best clinical staff to our teams. Across London training budgets are being cut and being able to offer a training programme for staff is an excellent way to attract and retain staff in a competitive market place. In the past we have funded ad hoc courses for staff, but now we are looking to fund a larger more strategic programme of training across both sites, greater than the usual ad hoc funding.

On the PICU we fund a range of courses from attendance to the PICS annual conference to attendance at the Winter Ethics Symposium by the British Transplant Society.

On the NICU we fund annual ARNI and NLS courses and this year will also be looking to fund the Band 5 education programme, which is designed to promote innovation and learning, to drive consistent high-quality care, patient safety, and best practice neonatal nursing care. This will see us develop nurses to fast track 4 “Band 5” speciality posts.

For more information of the courses we fund and how you can donate towards this please contact Victoriarees@nhs.net.

COSMIC is proud to support our IMPaCTS Room – a paediatric simulation centre – located in the High Dependency Unit of the PICU. When this area is not in clinical use, it is used to present paediatric staff from across all wards at St Mary’s with different clinical scenarios; such as a child having a seizure, to enhance their emergency training. PICU consultants also run a variety of courses for Imperial College Medical students, which help raise essential funds for COSMIC to further facilitate training and provide support to the centre.

The IMPaCTS Room uses simulation dolls called Junior Sim Mannequins. These are interactive mannequins which can breathe, cry, cough, choke and show other emergency symptoms which provides another excellent training tool for staff.

COSMIC continues to fund the development of the IMPaCTS Centre, including the provision of educational books and buying different size mannequins, to broaden the training and expertise of paediatric staff on the unit.