#52 The Elephant in the Room Advance Care Planning simulation training with Dr Anna Steel

In this episode of Conversations About Advance Care Planning it is my pleasure to talk with Dr Anna Steel. Anna is a Consultant Geriatrician at Barnet Hospital and co-founded the “Elephant in the Room” Advance Care Planning simulation course.

We talk about what led Anna to create the course, how it is delivered and the impact it has made.

Key messages from guest

• Anna shares how very personal experience shaped her views on Advance Care Planning.

• Through a quality and improvement programme Anna identified a gap in skills and confidence for the communication skills that underpin Advance Care Planning.

• Simulation was identified as the most effective form of education.

• The common themes facing healthcare professionals helped to shape the topic base for Elephant in the Room training.

• Anna describes how the training enables different disciplines to learn communication skills together and break down barriers between teams. 

• Research shows that confidence and enhanced skills are skills learned and sustained from Elephant in the Room training.

Resources

• The elephant in the room: Advance care planning simulation 

• The Elephant in the Room: An Innovative and Effective Approach to Multidisciplinary Advance Care Planning Training 

• A multidisciplinary simulation programme to improve advance care planning skills and engagement across primary and secondary care 

• Twitter: @ACPsimulation

• For information about Elephant in the Room training contact Acpsimulation@gmail.com or annasteel@nhs.net

Bio

Dr Steel is a Consultant Geriatrician at Barnet Hospital and is a Medical Examiner. She qualified from University College London in 2008 and has gained the last 15 years of medical training in and around London. She was awarded the BGS Rising Star Award for clinical quality in 2019.  Dr Steel has training in communication skills and simulation and organises and delivers courses focusing on advanced communications skills and advance care planning. She has co-founded the “Elephant in the Room” simulation course and created “Cultural diversity at the End of Life” training. 

Her core interests include frailty, end of life care and medical ethics with her quality improvement projects, teaching interests and publications focusing mainly around these topics. Dr Steel was a member of the London End of Life Care Clinical Leadership Group 2014-2015. She has held the position of British Geriatrics Society North East Thames Secretary and British Geriatrics Society England Council Member between 2017 and 2021.

Find out more about my Bespoke Consultancy

• Service analysis for teams seeking to improve EoLC or prepare for CQC

• End of Life Care Education

• Lasting Power of Attorney Consultancy

• Talks and presentations

If you’d like to find out more about my work contact me.

What one thing will you do?

It would be great to share what resonated with you from this episode, what is the one thing you will do differently? Head to Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn to continue these important conversations.

Thanks to all my guests for working with me to share their knowledge, experience and stories about Advance Care Planning. I hope you enjoyed listening and have insights to take away; I love hearing your reflections on the series and look forward to reviews on Spotify where you can also subscribe to the series.

Clare

Important Conversations about Important Conversations.