UNIVERSITY bosses are celebrating after being given the green light to recruit the first medical students for the new multi-million pound Three Counties Medical School.
The General Medical Council gave the go-ahead and those wishing to study at the landmark site will be able to apply from next month for entry in September 2022.
It will make a major contribution to tackling the shortage of medical doctors in Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire and beyond.
Last year Worcester received the largest allocation of additional places for health professional students in the UK. Worcester is now educating an additional 478 nurses, midwives, paramedics, physiotherapists and occupational therapists
Professor David Green CBE DL, the University of Worcester’s Vice Chancellor and Chief Executive, said: “We have been working to create the foundations for a medical school to serve the region for over four years now.
“The General Medical Council quite rightly scrutinise the training of medical doctors with laser precision.
“We will do our very best to ensure very well educated, high quality doctors graduate in sufficient numbers over the years ahead to turn the shortages of medical staff in the region into history.”
Simon Trickett, chief executive of the Integrated Care System and Chief Executive of Herefordshire and Worcestershire CCG, representing local NHS organisations, hailed the news.
“The University already plays a key role in helping local NHS organisations to be able to attract the range of skilled and qualified health and care professionals that we need to deliver local services.”
“The Medical School is a very important addition to that work and it is a development we have supported right from the beginning.
Sarah Dugan, chief executive of Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust, said the news was ‘fantastic’ for local NHS services.
“We are particularly excited by the core focus of this programme on mental health and well-being, community health and primary care and its emphasis on multidisciplinary teaching.”
Worcester’s MP Robin Walker is leading a campaign, supported by local MPs, for funded places to enable UK students to study at the Three Counties Medical School as soon as possible.
“I am immensely proud we will soon be able to welcome medicine students to Worcester where they will receive the highest quality training to become the doctors of the future.”
“This facility will bolster healthcare provision in Worcestershire, Gloucestershire and Herefordshire, and indeed the whole country,” he added.
