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NHS and US Armed Forces partnership
The West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (WSFT) and RAF Lakenheath’s 48th Medical Group are putting partnership learning at the forefront of patient care with a clinical learning programme that allows U.S. Air Force colleagues to bolster their experience in an NHS environment.
The scheme, which has been running with West Suffolk Hospital since 2010, sees military medics support NHS staff in operating rooms, the emergency department, and critical care units. This helps them sustain and improve their high-level clinical skills, and allows the Trust to benefit from the help of additional medical personnel.
Medics at Lakenheath are healthy and combat ready, but do not have a regular flow of patients coming through the hospital at the base which can make sustaining their complex and high-level skills difficult. The Trust has welcomed surgeons, nurses and technicians all year-round to share learning and enable skill development.
Dr Nick Jenkins, medical director at WSFT, said: “The 48th Medical Group staff are able to put their clinical skills to use working with the west Suffolk acute patient population - an opportunity not often afforded to them in their own facility. It provides real life training and opportunities to learn, and keeps USAF staff up to date on clinical skills, ready for deployment.
“This is a long-term partnership that we’re very proud of, with regular rotations throughout the year. It’s a really important programme, we’re committed to it and are pleased the rotations on offer have grown over the duration of the partnership; it supports positive patient care and outcomes.”
Over time, the relationship between the 48th Medical Group and the West Suffolk Hospital has grown and expanded from the original specialty of general surgery to now include ear, nose and throat (ENT), urology, emergency and critical care nursing, and medical technician theatre care and skills. Since January 2016, nearly 700 surgical procedures have been performed by USAF surgeons at West Suffolk Hospital.
Captain Scott Hiles, 48th Medical Group nurse, has just finished a six-week rotation in Trust’s emergency department. He said: “Patients immediately say to me, ‘you’re not from around here are you?’
“The NHS allows us to step in and get those clinical skills we may need for any future deployments we may have, which is so useful. I’ve really appreciated the openness and willingness of staff helping us to come and be a part of their team. It has been fantastic, and hopefully they feel we have supported them too.”
Lieutenant Colonel Jamie Swartz, 48th Medical Group ENT surgeon, who regularly does work at West Suffolk Hospital and other local trusts, said: “I don’t get a lot of chance to do complicated cases on the base – they require a lot more skill. Having this experience helps me to be better at routine cases on the base and on deployment.”
Dr Jenkins added: “The West Suffolk Hospital benefits from the support of USAF staff; they are part of west Suffolk teams and the shared learning and best practice this partnership provides is very exciting. It’s great for patients both on the base at RAF Lakenheath and for our local community here in the west of Suffolk.”
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