UHNM Charity funding has provided the Liver Unit with a new training abdomen, helping clinical teams gain hands-on experience before carrying out abdominal drain procedures on patients.
One of the Liver Unit’s main day-case procedures is paracentesis. This involves draining a build-up of fluid from a patient’s abdomen, known as ascites. Patients can often return home the same day if there are no complications.
The manikin gives doctors a safe way to practise the procedure and develop their skills before treating patients.
Vanessa Carr, Lead Liver Nurse, said: “We wouldn’t have been able to get one of these without the help of UHNM Charity.
“We provide training for different departments across the hospital, including acute medicine teams and gastroenterology doctors. Having the training abdomen makes that much easier.”
The equipment remains on the Liver Unit, making it readily available for teaching sessions. It also means several doctors can train at once, rather than waiting for suitable procedures to take place on the ward.
Vanessa added: “If you have eight doctors, you might not have enough drains taking place for everyone to train. We can use the abdomen to help them gain experience before carrying out the procedure on patients.”
The training abdomen was purchased using money raised by Patrick and Alex in memory of their father.
Vanessa said: “A massive thank you to Patrick and Alex for raising the money. We bought this in honour of their father, and we are so grateful.”
