Focus Games

A workshop in a box!

Make group training easy, enjoyable and effective with the Library and Knowledge Service's range of board games. They encourage structured discussion about specific performance, safety and change issues. Players learn from each other and support each other.

• The Care Certificate game

  Competency assessment tool for Care Certificate training.

    

  The game is designed to encourage creative discussions needed to answer a series of questions directly related to Care Certificate standards. It makes learning more engaging and creative than a traditional workshop or meeting. The board game covers the 8 Care Certificate standards that are best suited to group discussions and training workshops. Each standard has a pack of scenario cards that deliver essential facts and concepts:

  • Duty of Care
  • Equality & Diversity
  • Work in a Person Centred Way
  • Communication
  • Privacy and Dignity
  • Fluids & Nutrition
  • Awareness of Mental Health, Dementia & Learning Disabilities
  • Infection Prevention & Control
• The communication game

  Understand communication support needs and improve communication skills.

  

  The Communication Game helps frontline health & social care staff improve their knowledge and skills around communication, allowing them to support people with diverse communication support needs.

  Communication is key to delivering safe, effective and person-centred services. Everyone has the right to express their views and be heard, regardless of how they communicate. To provide an inclusive service, it’s crucial that frontline staff communicate effectively with as many people as possible.

  Small changes to our behaviour can help create an environment where as many people as possible can communicate effectively. The Communication Game is designed to catalyse these changes.

• Drug round game

  Understand, recognise and minimise medication errors.

  

  Players will discuss and explore a range of topics including:

  • Types of medication errors and their causes
  • Administering different types of medication
  • Drugs in mental health
  • Practical advice to reduce errors
  • Drug calculations

  The Drug Round Game is designed for anyone involved in administering or dispensing drugs, such as registered nurses, student nurses, junior doctors and pharmacy staff. It’s a competitive team game where players discuss and answer questions designed to encourage reflection, friendly debate and sharing knowledge. It’s simple to play and doesn’t require a facilitator or trainer with expert knowledge of medication errors.

• Game of stools: the Clostridium difficile board game

  Improve prevention and management of Clostridium difficile.

  

  Game of Stools is a fun and competitive board game, designed to teach healthcare professionals about C. difficile in an engaging and effective way. The game encourages discussion between players about prevention and management of infection, and increases knowledge and confidence around C. difficile, ensuring patients are cared for promptly and safely.

• The hydration game

  Recognise and minimise dehydration for patients, residents and staff.

  

  Particularly useful for those working with older patients and residents, The Hydration Game delivers key knowledge and creative solutions which staff can implement to improve hydration.

  As understanding of dehydration improves, it is becoming clear that many currently accepted simple indicators of dehydration in older people are unreliable. The game challenges ‘received wisdom’ and offers more effective ways of improving hydration, by encouraging increased fluid intake.

  Increasing fluid intake means much more than drinking water or cups of tea – there are interesting, creative approaches to support people to improve their hydration. The Hydration Game allows clinical & support staff in care settings to understand the problem, before focussing on the changes they could make to improve hydration.

• The infection control game

  Recognise and manage an infection outbreak on a hospital ward.

  

  The Infection Control Game is an active learning tool developed by leading NHS infection control practitioners. It offers an exciting hands-on approach to learning about infection prevention and control. Interacting with a simulated ward encourages players to make real world connections with the importance of minimising infection. The game challenges teams to reflect on how they manage infection and promotes teamwork and discussion to improve players confidence in managing on outbreak.

  The game is based in a virtual ward and recreates the complexities of a norovirus outbreak. The video presentation simulates a day on the Burton Ward, where players must work together to spot the signs of an outbreak and stop it from happening. If they fail, they must manage the consequences of ward closure. As gameplay develops, the video presents challenges which players must manage within the board game.

• The leadership game

  Helps health and social care professionals understand collective clinical leadership.

  

  The Leadership Game offers an engaging, hands-on approach to collective leadership, allowing healthcare professionals to build essential skills in teamwork, communication, and adaptability. Developed from rigorous research, this interactive game brings theory to life through structured challenges, with versions suitable for both face-to-face and virtual settings.

  The Leadership Game brings a unique, interactive approach to leadership development, making complex concepts accessible through the engaging format of a game. Unlike traditional training, this format fosters collaboration, enhances retention, and encourages active participation, allowing healthcare professionals to learn by doing. By simulating real-life challenges in a safe, gamified environment, players can develop problem-solving, decision-making, and communication skills with immediate feedback—transforming leadership skills from abstract ideas to practical tools.

• Masterful mentoring game

  Supporting nurse, midwife and AHP mentors during their annual updates

  

  Masterful Mentoring provides a platform for reflective learning, sharing experiences and discussing what they could have done better. Built around NMC Standards.

  Scenario cards cover key subject areas:

  • Establishing working relationships
  • Facilitation of learning
  • Assessment and accountability
  • Evaluation of learning
  • Creating an environment for learning
  • Context of practice
  • Evidence based practice
  • Leadership
  • Sign off mentor
  • Revalidation
• Menopause game

  Creates a safe space to discuss important issues, understand the menopause, and take control.

  

  The menopause can be difficult for the women who experience it. There is little formal support available for women before, during and after this important episode in their lives.

  We created the game to offer a safe space for groups to discuss difficult issues about the menopause in a gentle and supportive way. The game raises awareness of the menopause, challenges common myths and helps women to recognise and manage symptoms.

  However, the game can be played by anyone to raise general understanding of the menopause and reduce stigma around the menopause.

  The game presents menopause information in a fun, interactive and non-judgmental way. It empowers players to share their experiences and their concerns. It brings people together to learn together.

• The sepsis game

  Raise awareness of sepsis, improve recognition and management of sepsis.

  

  Sepsis is a life-threatening condition that arises when the body’s response to an infection becomes uncontrolled and injures its own tissues and organs. Sepsis can lead to shock, multiple organ failure and death if it is not recognised early and treated effectively. Fixing sepsis is a multi-disciplinary responsibility because sepsis crosses boundaries. These educational resources help staff and students to recognise the signs of sepsis and gives them the confidence to respond quickly and effectively.

  Developed in partnership with NHS England, Health Education England, e-Learning for Healthcare and the UK Sepsis Trust.

• Stop the pressure game

  Recognise and reduce avoidable pressure ulcers

  

  95% of pressure ulcers are preventable. The Stop The Pressure Game is designed to help your organisation eliminate avoidable pressure ulcers. It helps improve patient safety training for all health and social care staff around pressure ulcer prevention. It gives staff the opportunity to discuss the risk factors for pressure ulcers, how to manage and prevent them.

• The stroke game

  Understand the stroke patient journey, from the ambulance to rehabilitation.

  

  Developed by NHS stroke specialists to help frontline staff develop a better understanding of how stroke patients are managed at the four key stages of the stroke journey: Emergency, Acute, Rehabilitation and Community.

  The game is suitable for any clinical or support staff working with stroke patients in acute, social or community care settings.

  Players will learn about:

  • Emergency stroke treatment
  • Acute care
  • Rehabilitation
  • Community care
  • Prevention of future stroke
  • The multidisciplinary team approach
• Teams that care game

  Improve team performance in health and social care teams.

  

  As health & social care integration brings different services together, new multi-disciplinary teams will evolve and must learn to work together effectively to reduce mortality, and improve staff morale and staff retention.

  The Teams That Care Game encourages structured discussions enabling teams to explore what makes high performing teams tick, and the practical steps they can take to work together more effectively. It helps existing teams improve their processes and culture, and new teams will find it a useful and enjoyable way to explore collaborative working to provide effective person-centred care.
  
   

• Working stress game

  Helps teams manage work-related stress to avoid burnout.

  

  Working Stress^TM is an educational intervention that helps clinical staff manage stress more effectively. It was developed by psychologists specifically for NHS staff and can be the first step on a journey to improved wellbeing.
  
  The game offers specific information about stress, burnout and grief that explores the psychological and physical impact they can have. It then presents a range of evidence-based self-management strategies that can be applied immediately. It can teach clinicians how to cope with stress more effectively and enables groups to discuss the impact of stress and explore different ways of managing it. 

The board games are available to loan for you to use with your teams. Please note that the game may be at a different library site and we may need a few days' notice to transfer it to your location. 

If you would like any further information or discuss how we can help with your team's learning, please contact us.

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