Virti to train 15,000 NHS staff to tackle COVID-19

Virti, a British virtual and augmented reality company, are preparing to retrain over 15,000 NHS nurses, doctors, cleaners and porters to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic.

Virti said it was discussing with NHS trusts in south-west England about how to help staff work amid the risk of infection. If it goes well, they plan to expand elsewhere around the country.

The NHS trainees include staff returning to work after retirement and existing staff switching from another specialism.

"The U.S. and U.K. are mobilising groups that wouldn't normally be exposed to frontline patients," Dr Alex Young, Virti Chief Executive, told The Daily Telegraph. "The problem is, they've been out of practice and they need to be quickly upskilled.

"Healthcare providers are finding it incredibly difficult to scale their traditional face-to-face training to meet the updated guidelines. Frontline staff need to be trained up quite quickly to put on the protective equipment."

Young added that doctors feared operating beyond their limits in high-risk environments. Many were wary of picking up the infection and then passing it on. "The huge amount of stress and anxiety is really causing concern."

Virti

Trauma and orthopaedic surgeon Dr Young founded Virti 12 months ago. It uses virtual and augmented reality combined with A.I. to take users into realistic, hard-to-access environments and safely assesses them under pressure. It says the system enables cost-reduction and scaling of in-person coaching and training for users.

The NHS also selected Virti to join its Innovation Accelerator (NIA) programme. The programme scales the top evidence-based health solutions throughout the NHS. England’s 15 Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs) partner on its delivery. Virti are the first virtual and augmented reality company selected onto the NIA.

Virti, which also has offices in California and Texas, said it had trained around 14,000 health workers in the U.S. It expects to train a further 50,000 in the next couple of weeks after cutting prices during the pandemic.

Safety Critical Training

Patrick Johnston

New training centre set to open in Vietnam

The Next Pilot Shortage PREMIUM

The accession pipeline in the US for new pilots, increasingly dependent on learning technologies, is being restored, and none too soon, as a pilot shortage is eyed toward the mid-part of this decade. Marty Kauchak reports. Civil aviation remains on a turbulent path in the attempt to return to pre-Covid-19 operating levels. With lackluster passenger demand and the unsteady pace of restoring domestic and international routes, the industry is no longer facing the pilot shortage with which it was grappling just a few months ago. Reopened flight training programs, which increasingly rely on distance learning and other technologies to help select and retain aspiring pilots, are part of the strategy to help minimize a predicted next pilot shortage for later this decade. Looking to read the full article? Become a Premium Club member and gain full access today!

A Conversation With Kit Darby PREMIUM

CAT Editor-in-Chief Rick Adams, FRAeS, talks with Kit Darby, one of the leading experts on professional pilot careers about the state of the North American aviation market – recovery, retirements, furloughs, pay packages, and advice for moving to the head of the queue when hiring restarts (perhaps sooner than you think). The first section of this five part series is on Airline Recovery Scenarios and the Impact of Pilot Retirements. Kit Darby outlines possible airline recovery models, pilot retirements at the major US airlines, scenarios for the resumption of pilot hiring, and a comparison of airline early-retirement offers.