The City of Liverpool College shortlisted for Educate North awards as students build an NHS that is fit for the future

Ahead of the awards ceremony on 3 April 2025, The City of Liverpool College is proud to announce that the institution has been shortlisted for an Educate North award for work done by its students in fulfilling the government’s mission to ‘Build an NHS that is fit for the future’.

Building on the successful completion of the College’s virtual tour of the radiotherapy department at Clatterbridge Cancer Centre, The City of Liverpool College has expanded its collaboration with medical institutions across the North West with a series of challenges and solutions to provide digital solutions to improve patient journeys.

Challenge one: There was a need to develop an interface that allowed patients across the region to easily access information about clinical trials at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, and The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust.

Solution one: Further education (FE), higher education (HE) and T-Level students played a key role in designing and developing an interface that allowed patients to access information about clinical trials. This provided students with hands-on experience in healthcare technology and research practices. T-Level student Jack Doyle served as the lead programmer, gaining valuable experience in client interactions and working directly with NHS innovation experts to discuss updates and improvements to the system.

This initiative also helped increase diversity in health-related technology fields by offering students from lower-income or underrepresented backgrounds real-world experience in a high-impact project. By exposing them to careers in healthcare, research, and technology—industries that are often less accessible to disadvantaged groups—it encouraged more inclusive career pathways. Additionally, collaboration with leading healthcare institutions provided students with valuable networking and mentorship opportunities.

Beyond healthcare, this project highlighted how digital skills gained in games development can be applied across multiple industries. The games industry, while exciting, is highly competitive and can be volatile in terms of recruitment and job stability. By engaging in projects like this, students gained valuable experience in digital innovation, expanding their career prospects beyond traditional game development. Their skills in 3D modelling, user experience (UX) design, programming, and virtual environments are directly transferable to industries such as healthcare, architecture, simulation, and training applications, providing them with a wider range of job opportunities.

Challenge two: There was a need to reduce patient anxiety for those attending the brachytherapy department at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre through a virtual tour, similar to the successfully implemented radiotherapy virtual tour.

Solution two: Game development students created an interactive virtual tour for the Brachytherapy Department at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre. Modelled on real-life radiographers, two digital avatars guided patients through every stage of their appointment, helping to reduce anxiety for first-time visitors. Students were responsible for all aspects of the tour’s design and development.

This project gave students hands-on experience with cutting-edge virtual production technology while also developing highly transferable digital skills. By integrating patient-centred healthcare solutions, the initiative further promoted inclusivity by ensuring accessibility for diverse patient populations.

Challenge three: An interactive digital experience was required to inform the public about the consequences of brain injury, its impact on their lives, and the effects on their family and friends.

Solution three: Students developed three virtual reality (VR) environments to simulate an emergency room, a recovery room and a rehabilitation room, replicating the journey of patients with brain injuries. These simulations were interwoven with real-life stories that illustrated the causes and impacts of brain injuries.

Similar to the brachytherapy project, students were responsible for all elements of the VR environments, including the creation of educational content for both healthcare professionals and the public alike.

Through this work, students developed in-demand VR development skills that are applicable across multiple industries. As part of the project, The Walton Centre allowed students to visit the facility, where they observed demonstrations of training facilities used to prepare staff for emergency procedures. This provided them with firsthand exposure to the hospital environment, including sounds, alarms, monitoring machines, and the types of scenarios that patients and their families may experience in critical situations.

During the visit, students were also given the opportunity to photograph real-life environments, which they later replicated in the virtual world. This level of authenticity helped ensure the VR simulations were as accurate and immersive as possible.

Beyond technical skills, the project encouraged students to engage with real-world healthcare challenges, fostering empathy and a deeper understanding of patient needs. Additionally, it provided students from underrepresented backgrounds with exposure to creative and technical roles, significantly enhancing their employability and broadening their career opportunities beyond the gaming industry.

These projects are ongoing, with completion targeted for the end of this academic year. Participating students include Level 3 (FE) and HE games development students and T-Level students, all of whom are contributing to the design and implementation of these innovative healthcare solutions.

In the short-term, their work provides immediate benefits to patients by reducing anxiety and improving access to information. The Radiotherapy Virtual Tour at Clatterbridge Cancer Centre has already been successfully rolled out across the NHS and is available to patients attending the hospital, helping to reduce anxiety by familiarising them with the environment before their appointment.

Meanwhile, the Brachytherapy Virtual Tour is still in development, with plans to launch by the end of the academic year. Once completed, it will provide similar benefits, allowing first-time patients to explore the department in advance, helping to ease concerns and improve their overall experience.

In the medium-to-long term, these projects will continue to enhance patient experiences and healthcare training. The clinical trials information interface will make research participation more accessible, helping medical institutions recruit trial participants more effectively. Additionally, the VR training environments have the potential to be expanded into staff training modules, ensuring that healthcare professionals are better equipped to handle emergency scenarios.

“Neil Borg-Olivier, The City of Liverpool College’s Vice-Principal, commented:

“By embedding cutting-edge digital skills into healthcare solutions, these projects set a precedent for future collaboration between education and the NHS. As technology advances, the students’ work could inspire further developments in patient-centred digital tools, ensuring continued improvements in accessibility, education, and overall patient care.

“For students, this project provides valuable industry experience, opening up career pathways in healthcare technology and digital innovation—fields that are growing rapidly and critical to the city region’s growth plans.  Projects such as these create pathways into aspirational careers and build the social and cultural capital that will help students to be successful,” he continued.

This work has been shortlisted in this year’s Educate North Awards for the ‘Liverpool Hope Prize; Outstanding Achievement for Social Mobility’ in the FE/sixth form sector. This emphasises the College’s commitment to social mobility, diversity and providing access to opportunities for underrepresented students. The nomination recognises the vital partnership work with the NHS to enhance diversity in health-related tech fields by giving students from lower-income or under-represented backgrounds real-world experience in high-impact projects. This in turn encourages students to pursue careers in healthcare, research or tech, which are traditionally less accessible to disadvantaged groups.