CHINESE healthcare leaders came to Swindon this week to get an up-close look at the workings of an NHS hospital.

The delegation of senior managers, from the Zhejiang Health Bureau near Shanghai, visited GWH to get an insight into how medical students are trained in a hospital environment.

During their visit on Thursday, the group of 15 CEOs from various hospitals were given a tour of the Simulation Suite at GWH where they looked on as medical students worked through a mock treatment exercise.

Dr Michael Natarajan, Clinical Lead for Simulation at GWH, said: “The training facilities at the Great Western Hospital are among the best in the country and we are incredibly proud to have been chosen to demonstrate to our Chinese counterparts the very high standard of training that exists in the NHS.

“We work closely with the University of Bristol and every year see around 400 of their undergraduate medical students come to Swindon to undertake practical clinical training sessions as part of their studies.

“The feedback we get from students is always of a high standard, so I’m really excited that our visitors will actually get to see our fantastic equipment and facilities in use and the difference it can make to the next generation of doctors and nurses.”

The Simulation Suite at GWH was opened in 2012 and has enough equipment and facilities for students and existing staff to carry out 150 different training scenarios.

The equipment available to students includes a SIM Man, SIM Mum and SIM Baby, a family of life-sized manikins with pulse, breath, voices and heartbeats to make training as real and lifelike as possible.

Other features include a control room with microphones, cameras and two-way mirrors, which allow for all scenarios to be observed and recorded without students being distracted.

In recent years, the suite has been used by local school and college students during career events showcasing a range of medical roles.

Swindon is just one of the stops on the Zhejiang Health Bureau’s itinerary during its three week tour of healthcare providers in the UK.

The leaders, who have travelled nearly 5,000 miles from Eastern China, will be visiting other hospitals to gain an in-depth understanding of how the NHS operates.

While the service may face mounting challenges in the UK with an ageing and growing population requiring treatment in a climate of financial austerity, internationally it is still seen as a standard to aspire to.

Of course, there is more to national healthcare provision than just medical care and during their stay the Chinese delegation will also spend time learning about finance, management and patient care standards.

It is hoped that they will take away ideas and working practices that can be applied to the healthcare system in their own hospitals.