The Times - UK (2022-01-01)

20 Saturday January 1 2022 | the times

News

M

edical

students

no longer

have to

leave the

classroom in order to

experience a busy A&E

unit or the tension of

the operating theatre

(Katie Gibbons writes).

The University of

East Anglia is giving

students a virtual

reality (VR) headset to

allow them to explore

aspects of the clinical

setting to which they

would not normally

have access. The aim is

to give future doctors,

nurses and healthcare

experts a “holistic and

nuanced” experience of

the medical world so

they can provide better

care.

The headsets use

students’ smartphones

to convert 360-degree

video into immersive

VR tours give future

doctors a head start

with patients

with specific

needs.”

There are

30 videos,

including

observing an

A&E doctor

assessing a

patient with

chest pain, watching

the trauma team

manage a patient with

burns and fractures,

and standing at the end

of the bed at the start

of an operation. “Often

patients can feel

confused and the

hospital setting can be

quite scary,” said

Tsigarides. “VR allows

you to see what it’s like

to be a patient.”

All 1,250 students at

Norwich Medical

School have been given

cardboard devices

which, at less than £

each, are a fraction of

the cost of integrated

VR headsets.

3D experiences. When

a user turns their head,

the perspective turns

with them so they can

look around the virtual

environment as if they

were actually there.

The project has been

developed by Dr

Jordan Tsigarides, an

academic clinical

fellow at the UEA

school of health

sciences and VR lead

for Norfolk and

Norwich University

Hospital.

“The way you

communicate with

patients is important,”

he said. “We’re hoping

this will help to

enhance empathy and

make students more

prepared to

communicate with

STEPHEN POND FOR THE TIMES

The cardboard headsets

cost less than £5 each

and rely on the student’s

smartphone technology

w

w

n

3

in

o

A

a

p

Thecardboardheadsets chestpain

Countryside campaigners have con-

demned the building of a solar farm in

Dorset to provide electricity that will be

bought by the City of London.

Almost 100,000 solar panels are

being installed on 131 acres of farmland

near the village of Spetisbury.

The City of London Corporation

agreed last year to fund the construc-

tion by signing what it described as a

“pioneering £40 million green energy

deal” to buy all the electricity produced

by the farm for 15 years.

It said the 50-megawatt farm would

provide more than half its electricity,

powering its Guildhall headquarters,

Don’t sell Dorset

power to London,

say campaigners

our amenity because we do walk as far

as there”.

Voltalia, the company building the

solar farm, said it would not require a

subsidy and was being built mainly on

lower grade farmland.

Simon Holt, Voltalia’s UK manager,

said the solar panels would allow the

farmer, who was in his sixties, to pass

South Farm on to his daughter because

it would provide an income allowing

her to employ a farm manager.

“That will keep the farm in the family

which might not have happened as she’s

a theatrical cosmetic artist,” he said.

It was “unavoidable” that renewable

energy facilities would be built in the

countryside, he added. “It is important

they are sensitively sited outside of

Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty

and national parks.

“We carefully consider the potential

impact of a project and we certainly

believe in this case the benefits vastly

outweigh the negatives.

“The South Farm solar plant will be

built in a dip in the landscape which is

difficult to see from the surrounding

area.

“It has grid availability which is hard

to come by, so we had to utilise that.

“Cop26 has made it absolutely clear

that we must act on climate change.

Unless we take action things are going

to get really bad. This is part of that

action — we are trying to lower the

country’s reliance on fossil fuels to pro-

duce the energy needed. This will have

a big impact on the future.”

Andrew Kerby, a local Conservative

councillor, said the project was a “win-

win”. He said: “The countryside and

landscape are far from natural and

static, no matter what the city folk think.

“The reality is that farming and the

way we farm has changed. Farmers

once harvested light to grow grain, now

they harvest light to make electricity.

“For me, it’s a win-win. Solar provides

an opportunity to provide a carbon free,

renewable energy source that will go

some way to ensuring that global warm-

ing is reduced and give our environment

a chance to survive.”

Ben Webster Environment Editor

Supporters say the benefits of the

solar farm outweigh the disadvantages

three wholesale markets and the Barbi-

can arts centre.

The North Dorset branch of the

Campaign to Protect Rural England

(CPRE) objected in 2019 to the applica-

tion for South Farm and has criticised

the deal with the City.

Rupert Hardy, North Dorset CPRE’s

chairman, who lives a mile and a half

from the farm, said: “That land should

be used to provide food for Dorset, not

electricity for London.

“We would far prefer energy pro-

duced in our county to be used here —

especially when it is desecrating our

beautiful landscape.

“The solar farm is within sight of the

Cranborne Chase Area of Outstanding

Natural Beauty. What we would like to

see is more solar panels on roofs.”

Hardy said he could not see the farm

from his home but “it will impact on