Press release:
The Regional Ministry of the Presidency, Health and Emergencies of the Government of Andalusia, through IAVANTE of the Fundación Progreso y Salud, today presented the European SIM4UE project in Seville. This cross-border cooperation initiative involves six organisations from Andalusia, Galicia and Portugal and will run from 2026 to 2028.
SIM4UE has a total budget of €4.72 million and is co-financed by the European Union through the Interreg VI-A Spain-Portugal Programme (POCTEP 2021-2027). The presentation event brought together representatives of the European Commission, the Spanish Coordination Unit of the programme, the Government of Andalusia and the Spanish and Portuguese organisations involved in the project.
María José Sánchez, Director-General for Research, Innovation and Training at the Regional Ministry, highlighted that “clinical simulation and joint training will enable us to prepare healthcare professionals and move towards a more coordinated and consistent cross-border response to urgent and emergency situations. Through this project, we aim to strengthen patient safety and improve the quality of healthcare”.
During the event, the activity ‘SIM4UE in action’ demonstrated in practical terms how the clinical simulation methodology works. IAVANTE brought its mobile simulation unit and recreated three adult, paediatric and obstetric-gynaecological emergency scenarios using clinical simulators and healthcare equipment.
The Fundación Pública Andaluza Progreso y Salud coordinates SIM4UE as the lead beneficiary. The project also involves the University of Santiago de Compostela, Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío, the Fundación Pública Andaluza para la Gestión de la Investigación en Salud de Sevilla (FISEVI), Centro Hospitalar de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro and Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra.
Delia Bonsignore, programme manager at the European Commission’s DG REGIO, addresses the participants via videoconference.
Shared training for critical situations
Cross-border cooperation is one of the key values of SIM4UE. As part of the project, Spanish and Portuguese partners will share clinical scenarios, methodologies, teaching resources and best practices in order to develop a common training model that can be applied in different centres and territories.
The participation of the Portuguese partners will enable the project to incorporate the clinical and training experience of Centro Hospitalar de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro in pre-hospital emergency and urgent care, as well as that of Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra in the hospital setting.
On the Spanish side, Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío and FISEVI will be responsible for training in obstetric emergencies. The University of Santiago de Compostela will contribute its expertise in the management of paediatric emergencies, as well as in assessing the impact of the training. In addition, the two Portuguese organisations, together with IAVANTE of the Fundación Progreso y Salud, will deliver training aimed at instructors.
This joint work will enable healthcare professionals from both countries to access clinical simulation and train using shared criteria and methodologies, allowing them to respond in a coordinated manner to critical situations, particularly in areas with more limited access to this type of training or where such cases occur infrequently.