Using the App

Training Dashboard and Specialist Simulators

The Training Dashboard at /training-dashboard is one entry point into our specialist-skills library. It has four tabs:

• Training modules — the launcher grid. It is generated from the training module registry, so every module that has a page appears here. The list below is written by hand against that registry; if the two ever disagree, the page is right
• My progress — your historical attempts and scores, with Export progress (PDF, text, CSV or JSON)
• Achievements — badges for completed scenarios
• Recent activity — your latest simulator runs

The full laboratory simulations and the simulators embedded inside a parent module are not on this page. The sections below tell you which is which.

On the Training Dashboard

These appear as cards on the Training modules tab and also have direct URLs:

• QC Simulator — /qc-simulator — Westgard rules, Levey-Jennings, IQC
• Equipment Lab — /equipment-lab — bench analyser day-to-day operation
• Critical Values — /critical-values — telephone protocols and escalation
• Pre-Analytical — /preanalytical-training — pre-analytical error prevention
• Method Validation — /method-validation — verification, validation, MU
• Root Cause Analysis — /root-cause-analysis — incident investigation
• COSHH & Lab Safety — /coshh-safety-training — chemical hazards and control measures
• Incident Reporting — /incident-reporting-simulator — Datix-style workflow
• EQA Investigation — /eqa-investigation-training — handling NEQAS failures
• SOP Writing — /sop-writing-simulator — drafting SOPs
• UKAS Audit Training — /ukas-audit-training — ISO 15189:2022 prep
• NHS Application Support — /nhs-application-support — AI-coached application support
• Clinical Advisory — /clinical-advisory-simulator — clinician-call scenarios
• Presentation Skills — /presentation-skills-trainer — Q&A for interview presentation prep
• Lab Safety Essentials — /lab-safety-essentials
• SHOT Cold Chain Simulator — /shot-cold-chain-simulator
• Major Haemorrhage Simulation — /major-haemorrhage-simulation
• ACDP Biosafety Simulator — /acdp-biosafety-simulator
• POCT Device Simulator — /poct-device-simulator
• Specimen Reception Simulator — /specimen-reception-simulator
• Sample Transport Simulator — /sample-transport-simulator
• Sharps and Waste Simulator — /sharps-waste-simulator
• Equipment and Cold Storage Simulator — /equipment-cold-storage-simulator
• Non-Conformance / GDPR Simulator — /nonconformance-gdpr-simulator
• Communication of Critical Values (Band 2 to 3 trainer) — /communication-critical-values-simulator
• Workload Simulation — /workload-simulation — prioritising a bench under pressure
• STP Interview Simulator — /stp-prep/interview-simulator — Scientist Training Programme interview practice
• STP Situational Judgement — /stp-prep/situational-judgement — ranking responses against the worked key; recorded as its own module, not the simulator's
• Adaptive recall (self-marked) — /practice-tests?tab=adaptive — bank questions that get harder as you mark yourself right
• NHSBT Systems Training — /nhsbt-systems-training — OBOS, the knowledge quiz and the electronic issue checker
• Haematology case studies — /haematology-interviews
• Histology report lifecycle — /histology-interviews
• Histology grading trainers — /histology/grading/gleason (six trainers: Gleason, HER2, Nottingham, Bethesda, Breslow/Clark, staining quality)
• Haematology film training — /haematology-interviews
• AI interview coach — /ai-coach — a completed session's debrief is recorded
• Transfusion safety and haemovigilance — /transfusion-safety-haemovigilance — reaction investigation, WBIT detection, sample acceptance, TACO/TRALI
• Patient blood management — /patient-blood-management — cell salvage
• Mock EPA examination — /interview-prep/mock-epa
• Escalation scenarios — /interview-prep/escalation
• NHS values scenarios — /interview-prep/nhs-values

Full laboratory simulations (own URL, NOT on the Training Dashboard)

These are larger than a single simulator: each joins a worklist, a bench and the learning material into one place and saves your progress between visits, so you can leave and resume. They appear in the Continue section of your learner home once you have started, and on the LIMS training page.

• The Haematology Laboratory — /haematology-lims — Worklist, Bench, Morphology, Interpret, Learn
• The Clinical Biochemistry Laboratory — /biochemistry-lims — Worklist, Bench, Interpret, Learn
• The Clinical Microbiology Laboratory — /microbiology-lims — Worklist, Bench, Interpret, Learn
• The Cellular Pathology Laboratory — /cellular-pathology-lims — Worklist, Bench, Report, Learn
• The Virology Laboratory — /virology-lims — Worklist, Bench, Interpret, Learn. Work the screening queue against one auto-validation rulebook, run serology and molecular assays at the bench, take a reactive screen through confirmation and supplementary testing, and cover notification, reference laboratory referral and the post-exposure pathway.
• The Transfusion Laboratory — /transfusion-lims — Worklist, Bench, Issue, Learn. Group and screen against the historical record, antibody identification and DAT at the bench, fetomaternal haemorrhage and anti-D dosing, and the issue decision: the two-sample group check, the electronic issue criteria and the emergency path. /blood-bank-lims goes to the same place.
• The Genomics Laboratory — /genomics-lims — Worklist, Bench, Interpret, Learn. Work the sequencing queue against the National Genomic Test Directory, run the platform, the bioinformatics pipeline, copy number and cytogenetics at the bench, apply the ACMG/AMP criteria and the CanVIG-UK points bands to classify a variant, and decide what actually goes on the report — including what a variant of uncertain significance does and does not license, and what consent governs about a secondary finding.
• The Coagulation Laboratory — /coagulation-lims — Worklist, Bench, Interpret, Learn. Work a queue where most of the abnormal results are meant to be abnormal, and decide which of them a laboratory may release: a therapeutic INR on warfarin and an anti-Xa at target on a heparin infusion are abnormal, explained and releasable, while an unexplained prolongation is not. Run the analyser and its quality control at the bench, tell a drug effect from a deficiency and an artefact from either, choose the assay that answers the question actually asked, and cover HIT, TTP, DIC scoring and the major haemorrhage protocol.
• The Immunology Laboratory — /immunology-lims — Worklist, Bench, Interpret, Learn. Work a queue where most results are negative and the few that are not change a life, and decide which positives a laboratory may release: a strongly positive antinuclear antibody is never released without a scientist, and a critical complement or CD4 result is telephoned. Read a HEp-2 slide against the ICAP nomenclature at the bench, and learn what a positive actually licenses — why an ANA at 1:80 with no clinical question means little, why a tTG is uninterpretable in IgA deficiency, and why a free light chain ratio is read against renal function.
• The Andrology Laboratory — /andrology-lims — Worklist, Bench, Interpret, Learn. Work a bench where the sample cannot be repeated and the clock starts at production, not at receipt: a motility measured ninety minutes after the sample was produced belongs partly to the journey. Count a concentration on an improved Neubauer chamber, grade motility in the four categories the WHO 6th edition reinstated in 2021, read morphology against strict criteria, and reflex to a vitality stain when motility is low — because immotile-but-alive and dead give the same motility figure and lead to different treatment. Then learn what the numbers license: the lower reference limits are the 5th centile of men whose partners conceived within a year, so a result below one is not a diagnosis of infertility. Post-vasectomy analysis runs to its own rules, where motile sperm mean no clearance at any concentration.
• The Quality Management System — /qms-application — Practice, Audit, Investigate, Measure, Learn. Raise a finding and grade it, close a CAPA with an effectiveness check that means something, score a risk before and after mitigation, review a QC run against the Westgard rules, and put a controlled document through its lifecycle — against ISO 15189:2022 as UKAS assesses it.
• Result Interpretation — /result-interpretation — one workspace per specialty. Work a result set through the clinical scientist workflow, from the numbers to what the report may say; your case scores are recorded per specialty and averaged, so a second case does not replace the first.
• The Pre-Analytical Phase — /preanalytical-lims — Reception, Collection, Acceptance, Learn. Gathers the specimen reception, WBIT, order-of-draw and transport simulators into one place and adds a sample acceptance engine; the standalone simulators still work at their own URLs and your progress in them shows here.

Embedded simulators (inside a parent module — no standalone URL)

Reach these by opening the parent page first:

• Transfusion reaction investigation simulator — inside /transfusion-safety-haemovigilance, under Practice
• WBIT detection simulator — inside /transfusion-safety-haemovigilance, under Practice
• Cell salvage simulator — inside /patient-blood-management, under Practice
• Equipment failure simulator — inside the Blood Transfusion virtual lab at /virtual-laboratory, on its Workflows tab

How to use a simulator

1. Open the simulator by its URL or its dashboard card.
2. Read the description and band-mapping shown on the page.
3. Start a scenario. Each simulator records your attempt to the My progress tab on the Training Dashboard and to your CPD log.
4. Most simulators map to HCPC standards; achievements appear in the Achievements tab as you complete them.

Certificates

These modules issue a PDF certificate once you pass their assessment tab: NHS Application Support, UKAS Audit Training, Clinical Advisory, COSHH & Lab Safety, EQA Investigation, Incident Reporting, Presentation Skills and SOP Writing. The Transfusion Safety & Haemovigilance, Patient Blood Management and NHSBT Systems modules also generate certificates, Method Validation and Root Cause Analysis produce PDF reports, and Result Interpretation offers a CPD certificate after three scenarios. Other simulators record your attempt without a certificate.

There is no app-wide "specialty + band filter" on the Training Dashboard at present — pick the simulator that matches the competency you want to drill.

Accessing simulators

Most simulators are Premium-tier. Free users see the catalogue but the simulator itself is gated. NHS Trust and university members on an organisation plan get full access automatically.

If a simulator is locked, see the Premium guide for upgrade or organisation-access options.