Using simulated bronchoscopy to improve training on intensive care units in a north London NHS trust

Flexible bronchoscopy is a vital tool that is used for both diagnostic and therapeutic indications on the intensive care unit. During the COVID pandemic, training opportunities to perform such a skill were decreased and novel methods of teaching, including using bronchoscopy simulators, were explored out of necessity. The aim of this quality improvement project was to investigate how training on an intensive care unit prepared trainees for carrying out bronchoscopy, and whether a simulated bronchoscopy session with a high-fidelity simulator could be a useful adjunct to gain experience. Our pilot, although limited in patient numbers, suggested that current teaching methods might not be adequate for building trainee confidence and that a session with a bronchoscopy simulator could serve as a remedy to this with a significant increase in self-reported confidence. Moving forwards in a post-pandemic era, this serves as a lesson learnt from COVID and would benefit from further development in this area.