NHS Lothian’s Medical Microbiology and Virology team were presented last night (22 June) with the RCPath Achievement Award.
The RCPath Achievement Award exemplify excellence in pathology practice, education and training.
The winning team, who are spread over the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh (RIE), St John’s Hospital (SJH) and the Western General Hospital (WGH), were presented with the award in London last night along with four other teams from across the UK and overseas.
Accepting the award on behalf of the team was Dr Surabhi K Taori, Consultant Medical Microbiologist and lead trainer (Microbiology), and Mr Derek Bryce, Biomedical Scientist and Team Manager Microbiology SJH Hospital.
The Medical Microbiology and Virology team won the award for their outstanding work in infection training. In 2019, the team identified an improvement opportunity and launched Combined Infection Training (CIT).
CIT was a focused bootcamp approach which was trialled to teach laboratory skills. After a successful trial, the course was developed further with input from biomedical and clinical scientists, simulation specialists, university researchers and medical staff. This Simulation Bootcamp was launched in 2021 and follows the patient’s pathway from clinical presentation to clinical decision-making via laboratory diagnostics.
The training engages infection trainees in multiple simulation teaching activities that develop competencies in practice of laboratory medicine and clinical infection service delivery.
In 2022, the training was endorsed by the Scottish Infection Training Committee who recommended it be rolled out to all Scottish CIT trainees to bring together a sense of community, share resources and increase sustainability.
The Bootcamp continues to provide a novel cutting-edge platform for infection medicine training in Scotland, embodying the College’s strategic aim to develop and maintain high standards of training.
Congratulations to the team on this outstanding achievement.
