GHP October 2016

6 | ghp October 2016 School of Medicine Will Address Pressing Healthcare Needs The £20 million facility, to be built on Anglia Ruskin’s Chelmsford campus, will be Essex’s first undergradu- ate medical school. The project has been in develop- ment since 2014 and, subject to both approvals from the General Medical Council and the allocation of places from the government, will see the first students start their studies in two years’ time. Essex has a population of 1.4million and this is set to rise by 20% by 2025. Even with the current popu- lation, the national workforce Minimum Data Set for General Practice shows the county is suffering med- ical workforce shortages across primary care, mental health and acute care. The Mid and South Essex area has the highest percentage of GPs aged over 54 in the country, and the second highest patients-per-GP ratio in the country. Anglia Ruskin aspires to recruit 50% of the students from the East of England, providing opportunities for the region’s most promising students. Anglia Ruskin is working closely with NHS Trusts and primary care providers across the region to secure placements for students and to ensure graduates have the oppor- tunity to stay in the East of England after they have completed their studies. The facility will include state-of-the-art skills facilities, specialist teaching space, lecture theatre and a ca- daveric anatomy suite, complementing existing skills facilities and the £3.4 million SuperLab which opened in September 2015. Dr Ruth Jackson, Pro Vice Chancellor for the School of Medicine Development said, “Essex has a distressed health economy with a shortage of professionals and many of those set to retire in the near future. The county has few undergraduate students who live and train here, and that is what we want to change. “Anglia Ruskin University has a proud history as one of the largest providers of undergraduate and postgraduate education for healthcare in the East of England over the past two decades. We are passionate about making a difference and we are prepared to make the investment this project requires. Our univer- sity has always had a strong commitment to widening participation and we hope to recruit a significant number of students from local schools. “We have worked closely with a broad range of partners across the regional health economy for the past two years in planning the School of Medicine, including NHS Trusts, primary care providers, local authorities and charities. The development of an Essex-based medical school is widely viewed by these stakeholders as part of the solution to the ongoing issues faced by the region.” www.anglia.ac.uk Anglia Ruskin University is planning to open a new School of Medicine for September 2018 to help address the urgent need for more doctors and healthcare professionals in the UK, and specifically in Essex. news