The VR Insight Programme

This module takes healthcare professionals on an integrated journey following a patient with chronic pain, from initial presentation to diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up care.

• Participants will explore how to assess chronic pain effectively, distinguish between different pain types, and develop tailored treatment plans that balance pharmacological and non-pharmacological approaches.
• Stop & Think moments throughout the module challenge learners to reflect on key learning points, such as the complexities of pain management and the psychosocial aspects of chronic conditions.
• Embedded video content from leading pain management specialists provides expert commentary on identifying pain drivers, improving patient communication, and fostering long-term strategies to enhance quality of life.

This module follows Andrew, a recently widowed man who lives on a narrowboat, as a fall and a chest infection bring him into contact with the health service. Learners follow his journey from an unmet health need on the towpath, through a 999 call and the challenge of reaching a canal boat, to the emergency department, self-discharge, and a Deep End GP multidisciplinary team that develops a holistic plan built around his needs. Along the way, the module highlights the barriers that affect people who are seldom heard, including having no fixed address, limited connectivity, social isolation and bereavement, and the health inequalities that result. Through immersive 360° scenes and reflective Stop & Think moments, participants explore the social determinants of health, the distinction between advocacy, allyship and activism, and how inclusive, co-produced and community-connected care can help reduce inequalities. Andrew’s experience is one person’s story, and the module encourages learners to consider how services can be designed and delivered so that care reaches those who need it most.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Social Justice and Health Equity

• Promote social justice in the communities you serve, appreciating the differences between advocacy, allyship and activism.
• Critically appraise the relationship between social determinants of health and health inequalities.
• Consider how your decisions and actions, and those of others around you, affect people with protected characteristics (Equality Act 2010), taking action to address workplace discrimination, harassment and victimisation.
• Value diversity in teams and organisations, adopting and advocating for inclusive practices.
• Contribute to the design and delivery of care pathways (including digitally-enabled) that reduce inequalities, promote inclusion and engage and protect the most vulnerable.

Population Health

• Identify and effectively communicate the priority health needs of a local population using available data and evidence.
• Generate potential strategies for addressing population-level determinants of health, ensuring the equitable, sustainable and transparent use of available resources.
• Develop care and prevention pathways sensitive to local needs, drawing on the best available population-level data and research evidence.
• Identify community assets and how these resources may be mobilised for population health improvement.
• Engage in the co-creation of population health and wellbeing with colleagues and citizens, using a range of modes of interaction sensitive to the needs and concerns of different groups.

This module guides learners through the clinical journey of a person with early dementia, from recognising early symptoms to diagnosis, treatment planning, and ongoing care.

• It highlights the importance of early intervention and provides practical tools for engaging with patients and families during challenging moments.
• Stop & Think moments encourage users to pause and consider best practices for delivering person-centred care and managing cognitive and behavioural symptoms.
• Embedded video content from dementia experts offers in-depth insights on topics including the formal dementia assessment and driving in dementia.

Advanced Dementia

This module guides learners through the clinical journey of a person with advanced dementia. The patient has gradually worsening cognition, speech and behavioural challenges, including non-compliance with regular medications.

Stop & Think moments encourage users to pause and consider best practices for delivering person-centred care and managing cognitive and behavioural symptoms.

This module introduces learners to the menopause group clinic model, demonstrating how group care can improve support, education, and shared decision-making. It highlights the role of facilitation, peer interaction, and clinical expertise in addressing common challenges faced during menopause.

Learners will see how best-practice facilitation creates a safe, inclusive environment, how peer support enhances confidence, and how clinical input ensures accurate, personalised advice.

With 75% of GP practice staff experiencing daily abuse and 83% of practices having had to remove patients due to repeated incidents, this training focuses on realistic, high-pressure scenarios encountered in primary care settings.

• Learners face three interactive role-play scenarios designed to provide healthcare professionals with the skills and confidence needed to de-escalate conflict effectively.
• Each scenario includes Decision Points, where learners must choose the best response from three possible options. Selecting the best practice response moves the narrative forward, while choosing one of the other two responses leads to a more negative outcome. Expert feedback is provided explaining why the response was less effective.
• Embedded video content from conflict resolution and communication experts provides detailed guidance on de-escalation strategies, emphasising active listening, maintaining professionalism and addressing the underlying causes of conflict.

This module ensures staff are prepared to handle challenging situations confidently and foster a safer environment.

Pathways of Care is an interactive VR learning module for undergraduate nursing students, exploring the principles of holistic, person-centred care in a social care setting. The module follows Gladys, an 80-year-old woman transitioning from hospital into a care home after a stroke, and Sarah, the social care nurse coordinating her care. Through their story, learners see how skilled nursing goes beyond task completion – encompassing compassionate communication, clinical assessment, MDT coordination, and keeping the resident’s voice central to every decision. Interactive stop-and-think moments build knowledge and clinical reasoning across five themes: admission and assessment, medication management, multidisciplinary teamworking, mental capacity, and the impact of high-quality social care.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Initial Assessment and Admission

Understanding the admission process, applying compassionate communication, recognising clinical risks such as mobility, nutrition, skin integrity and cognition, and taking a person-centred approach from the outset.

Medication Review and Mental Capacity

Managing medicines safely on admission, understanding allergy checking, assessing mental capacity in a person-centred way, and applying the principles and assessment stages of the Mental Capacity Act.

Advance Care Planning

Understanding DNACPR and ReSPECT, developing skills for sensitive advance care conversations, involving family appropriately, and communicating clearly about funding and future care options.

Impact of High-Quality Social Care

Recognising the preventive and therapeutic role of social care, understanding the value of medication review and MDT input, and appreciating the emotional and practical difference coordinated, person-centred care makes to residents and families.

This module follows Mike Price, a 55-year-old man living with a progressive, inoperable brain tumour, and his wife Gina and adult daughter Amy, across the final year of his life. Told in immersive 360° video, it moves from a GP consultation where deterioration is first named, through a district nurse’s advance care planning visit at home, a hospital ward discussion of treatment escalation, a primary care multidisciplinary team meeting, an out-of-hours ambulance call-out, and finally Mike’s last days at home. Learners observe each encounter from within the room and, at two points, step into Mike’s and then Gina’s perspective to hear their unspoken thoughts. The module takes a whole-pathway view, reflecting the principle that end of life care is “everybody’s business” rather than the work of specialist services alone. Interactive Stop and Think moments examine cues that someone may be in their last year of life, frameworks for opening advance care planning conversations, the ReSPECT form and how it is shared, capacity and best interests decisions, anticipatory prescribing, and the support families and carers need. Learners also reflect on their own communication and on where to find specialist palliative care advice.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this module, the learner should be able to:

• Recognise clinical and non-clinical indicators of the last year of life.
• Demonstrate communication strategies for initiating ACP discussions.
• Apply advance care planning principles in shared decision-making and gain awareness of some of the personalised care-planning documents available to support this process, such as ReSPECT, PEACE and PACT.
• Explore anticipatory prescribing and adjusting care plans in the last weeks of life.
• Support patients and families during the last days of life with empathy, and also, practically, through good symptom control.

This module takes healthcare professionals on an integrated journey following a patient with perimenopausal symptoms, from initial presentation to diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up care.

Participants will explore how to assess symptoms effectively, develop tailored treatment plans that balance pharmacological and non-pharmacological approaches, and emphasises the importance of shared decision-making.

Stop & Think moments throughout the module challenge learners to reflect on key learning points, such as the benefits and risks of HRT.

Embedded video content from leading menopause specialists provides expert commentary on understanding HRT.

This module follows a patient and family journey where Lynch syndrome is suspected, diagnosed and managed in the context of hereditary cancer risk. Learners experience key moments from primary care consultation through to genetic testing, results disclosure and shared decision-making about surveillance and treatment. Through immersive scenes and reflective Stop & Think moments, participants practise explaining genomic concepts in plain language, exploring values and preferences, and coordinating care between primary care, genetics services and secondary care teams.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Patient Eligibility

Understand the patient cohort eligible for the genomic test as defined by the National Genomic Test Directory.

Explaining Options to the Patient

Develop skills in explaining genomic testing to the patient.

Consent

Develop an understanding of how to consent a patient for testing, including the implications for them and their family.

Interpreting Results

Gain practice in interpreting documented results and delivering these clearly to the patient.

Documentation

Appreciate the documentation process for consent, delivering results, and onward referral where necessary.

This interactive 360 VR module provides an introduction to home visits in primary care to build understanding and confidence across a range of healthcare roles. Understand the patient within their psychosocial context and consider the challenges and opportunities that come with home visits.

This scenario is focused on a housebound patient who lives alone. She has been recently discharged from hospital having had a stroke and has made good recovery. Her neighbour calls the surgery and speaks to a receptionist to share some concerns, after popping in to see her that day. Her neighbour is worried that she is ‘in a pickle with her medications’. We then follow the patient and healthcare workers as they interact and address her needs.

This module guides learners through the journey of a man struggling to access healthcare. It aims to develop generalist skills in health equity and population health by highlighting the wider determinate of health for socially excluded groups and show how these can be addressed through personalised care.

Suicide prevention and mental health support for farming communities through immersive scenarios.

Produced alongside farmers; the project provides education to future doctors about some of the unique challenges faced by patients living in rural areas and the effect of these challenges on mental health.

Poor mental health is a significant concern in agricultural workers; The RABI Big Farming Survey (2021) found that 36% of farmers are ‘probably or possibly’ depressed, 47% report constant anxiety, and only 8% of women and 12% of men describe their mental wellbeing as good. The Farm Safety Foundation reports that 95% of young farmers believe mental health is the biggest hidden problem facing agriculture today.

Rural Minds began with the teams’ observations of the impact of poor mental health on the farmers they met in their daily clinical practice. This sparked a dialogue with community leaders from the Suffolk Agricultural Association, exploring potential solutions to support them. These conversations revealed the cultural stigma, emotional isolation, and systemic barriers that prevent many farmers from seeking timely help.

This module introduces learners to the diabetes group clinic model, demonstrating how group care can improve support, education, and shared decision-making. It highlights the role of facilitation, peer interaction, and clinical expertise in addressing common challenges faced by people living with diabetes.

Learners will see how best-practice facilitation creates a safe, inclusive environment, how peer support enhances confidence, and how clinical input ensures accurate, personalised advice for diabetes management.

This module follows a patient and family journey where Lynch syndrome is suspected, diagnosed and managed in the context of hereditary cancer risk. Learners experience key moments from primary care consultation through to genetic testing, results disclosure and shared decision-making about surveillance and treatment.

Through immersive scenes and reflective Stop & Think moments, participants practise explaining genomic concepts in plain language, exploring values and preferences, and coordinating care between primary care, genetics services and secondary care teams.

We have various modules on complex multimorbidity available:

• Complex Multimorbidity: The Ward
• Complex Multimorbidity: The Outpatient Appointment
• Complex Multimorbidity: Advance Care Planning
• Complex Multimorbidity: The Emergency Department
• Complex Multimorbidity: The Home Visit
  
  

This module follows the journey of a patient with cancer of unknown primary (CUP) as they access whole genome sequencing (WGS) through the NHS Genomic Medicine Service.

Learners travel the full pathway alongside the patient – from the multidisciplinary team (MDT) meeting where the need for WGS is recognised, through consent and the germline sample, the biopsy in radiology, the handling of fresh tissue in the histopathology department, processing at the Genomic Medicine Service (GMS), and interpretation of the results, to the Genomic Tumour Advisory Board (GTAB) where findings are discussed and a treatment plan is agreed.

Pathways of Care is an interactive VR learning module for undergraduate nursing students, exploring the principles of holistic, person-centred care in a social care setting.

The module follows Gladys, an 80-year-old woman transitioning from hospital into a care home after a stroke, and Sarah, the social care nurse coordinating her care. Through their story, learners see how skilled nursing goes beyond task completion – encompassing compassionate communication, clinical assessment, MDT coordination, and keeping the resident’s voice central to every decision.

Interactive stop-and-think moments build knowledge and clinical reasoning across five themes: admission and assessment, medication management, multidisciplinary teamworking, mental capacity, and the impact of high-quality social care.