NHS doctors use VR for diabetes training

The NHS England diabetes team has partnered with OxfordMedical Simulation to train doctors using virtual reality. Doctors can nowpractice in virtual reality medical emergencies to improve care for patientswith diabetes in the real world.

Combining clinical expertise from the NHS, volunteer patientinput and virtual reality software, doctors can now put on virtual realityheadsets and practice taking care of patients as often as they want, withoutrisking lives.

The system is being piloted through Health Education Englandin a multicentre trial in the South of England, with development funded by NovoNordisk. If supported by evidence from the pilot, there are plans for furtherroll-outs nationwide throughout 2019.

People with Type 1 diabetes have more chance of developinglife-threatening complications when in a hospital than outside of it. Forpeople with diabetes, extreme highs and lows in blood sugar can be fatal. Theseemergencies can be difficult for doctors and nurses to recognize but can befatal if not treated quickly. High-quality training for frontline staff isvital to improve patient care in these situations.

“When I was in training we’d learn on the wards. It wascalled ‘see one, do one, teach one’”, commented Dr. Jack Pottle, an NHSclinical entrepreneur and co-founder of Oxford Medical Simulation. “I had neverpracticed managing a diabetic emergency until I had to do it in real life. Youwouldn’t expect a pilot to fly a plane full of passengers without havingpracticed first. Why do we think that’s acceptable for doctors and nurses?”

Dr Partha Kar, NHS England clinical director of Diabetessaid: “Embracing technology is at the heart of the NHS Long Term Plan andtraining doctors using virtual reality is another example of modernising theNHS to help improve care for patients with diabetes.”

Individuals who helped to develop this project included Dr Mayank Patel, Dr Ritwika Mallik and Neil Sweeney.