Simulation History

1999 - 2000: Simulation came to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital (C&W) in 1999. At the time there were only a handful of Simulation centres in the UK. The initial impetus to develop a Simulation facility came with the appointment of Professor Mervyn Maze as the Sir Ivan Magill Professor of Anaesthetics. Professor Maze had spent 20 years at Stanford University where he witnessed the ground breaking work of Dr. David Gaba, an anaesthetist and pilot, in Medical Simulation. Professor Maze was encouraged and supported by the CEO at the time Heather Lawrence.

In late October 1999, a small team of Consultant Anaesthetists from C&W, led by Dr. Mark Bloch visited David Gaba at his Simulation Centre at the Palo Alto Veteran’s Hospital in California. The team returned to C&W and set about building and developing a similar centre on the Fulham Road.

2000 - 2003: The first centre took over a moth-balled operating theatre and anaesthetic room on the 5th floor, now Main Theatre 1. In early 2000, the centre began to deliver a high fidelity simulation course entitled 'Anaesthesia Crisis Resource Management' (ACRM). This course focused on what we now call “Human Factors”. At the time Simulation was almost exclusively the domain of anaesthetists. As the centre became established it moved to a new site on the 2nd Floor, here the range of courses started to expand.

2003 - 2007: In 2003, the new purpose built Centre for Clinical Skills opened in its current location on the Lower Ground Floor. This included a state of the art Simulation suite with 2 operating theatres and teaching rooms.

In 2003, a national programme was developed and funded to enhance the use of technology in healthcare education. C&W were at the forefront of this initiative. In 2004, in collaboration with the 2 other centres in London (St.Bartholomew’s and St.George’s), the centre delivered the first national generic simulation training day for Foundation doctors. In 2007, C&W hosted the Annual National Conference for the Association of Medical Simulation. C&W continues to innovate and lead the way with simulation training. In recent years, courses in Acute Oncology and End of Life Care have received national acclaim.

2018 - Present: Simulation at C&W has been given a new impetus in recent years by the arrival on site of Professor Roger Kneebone and his Imperial team in the Centre for Engagement and Simulation Science.