Hospital simulated patient programme: a guide

Many university courses employ simulated patients to work with students in the development of communication skills. Our challenge was to build a sustainable programme that could be adapted for medical, nursing and allied health staff, and groups of students, on our hospital campus.

In recognition of the need to provide practice opportunities for junior medical staff to hone their capacity to communicate effectively with parents, we employed professional actors who are also qualified teachers. Junior doctors have multiple opportunities over their training time to work one-to-one with an actor-tutor in the role of simulated parent. The simulated parents are skilled in helping the trainees reflect on the conversation, and the trainees are given a recording of their sessions for further reflection and feedback from a colleague. This model has been adapted to meet the 'topic' needs and scheduling requirements of other staff and hospital-based student groups.

In adapting the original medical staff programme, we came to appreciate not only the logistical but also the ethical considerations inherent in a simulated parent/patient programme. Our guide highlights the importance of safeguarding the educational integrity of the design, maintaining the fidelity of the simulations and ensuring the safety of all involved.