MedEdPublish (Feb 2021)
Lessons from a Bootcamp for Rapid Cross-skilling of Hospital Clinical Staff during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic posed a major challenge for the UK National Health Service to scale up acute and intensive care beds at a scale never before conceived in peacetime history. To manage this upscaling, hospitals were tasked to upskill and cross-skill majority of clinical staff to be redeployed in COVID-19 clinical areas. Responding to this challenge education departments employed a variety of strategies to provide this training to staff in the space of a few weeks, as the COVID-19 pandemic surge arrived. In a University teaching hospital in London, one of the hotspots of COVID-19 in the UK during the first surge, approximately 1000 clinical staff were trained through military-style ‘Bootcamps’. The concept, design, delivery and evaluation of this exercise offers a unique opportunity to reflect on both the educational and behavioural aspects important to learning. This article analyses the reflections contextualises and captures the lessons for organisations and educators alike to apply in future massive responses. were required to deliver this training. What this exercise has demonstrated that firstly, it has consolidated our belief in the potential for adapting pre-existing simulation scenarios, developing learning protocols working closely with frontline clinicians, aligned with organisational goals. Secondly, that educationalists benefit from working closely with frontline learners in designing, shaping and delivering content, thus keeping it relevant, meaningful and contemporary. Finally, it has shown that byte-sized programmes working with a flexible cohort of learners from wide-ranging backgrounds, and delivered with a 'drop-in-when-one-can' model is effective - in reaching within complex organisational hierarchy. Thus offers a framework for future rapid-rollout of educational interventions.
