PRPlayers

Exploring the Realities of Healthcare Through Drama-Based Learning

Challenge

Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) sought to create an innovative drama-based training programme called Snakes and Ladders, designed to explore the real-life experiences and challenges faced by patients, families, and healthcare professionals.

The goal was to develop a 7-month interactive learning programme that would provoke meaningful dialogue and highlight best practice for both service users and providers across the NHS.

Project Goals and Objectives

• Develop a story that asks difficult questions about how the NHS can be improved

• Address complex issues such as:

  • Ethical, practical, resource, and financial dilemmas

  • Trust, communication, consent, clinical errors, and bereavement

  • Fragmented care, bed shortages, uncertain diagnoses, and treatment decisions

• Create a shared learning space for reflection and discussion

Process

PRP collaborated closely with GOSH to develop a sequential simulation - a format where the same patient is followed across multiple episodes of care. The story focused on a child living with Cystic Fibrosis, tracking their journey and family experience up to the age of 16.

Each month, a new scenario unfolded along the patient’s care pathway, highlighting challenges from both clinical and emotional perspectives.

Solution

PRP transformed the family’s healthcare journey into a Forum Theatre-style production, enabling active audience participation and discussion. Each of the seven sessions brought to life key healthcare challenges, including:

• Breaking Bad News

• Building Trust and Relationships

• Saying Sorry

• Hospital Management Pressures

• Shared Decision-Making

• Consent and Capacity

• End-of-Life and Terminal Care

A dedicated team of PRP’s specialised medical role players was selected, trained, and briefed to portray a range of characters with depth and authenticity. Their performances brought the narrative to life, sparking rich debate and critical reflection among participants.

Results

By the end of the programme, participants left with:

• A deeper understanding of how effective communication underpins patient care

• Greater awareness of the realities and pressures within healthcare settings

• Insights into how evidence-based practice, clinical effectiveness, and contextual understanding work together to improve care

• A renewed appreciation of the emotional and systemic complexities of NHS care delivery

Due to the overwhelming success of Snakes and Ladders, another major teaching hospital commissioned a follow-up programme:
Snakes and Ladders II, expanding the initiative’s reach and impact.