The University of Worcester has received approval from the General Medical Council to establish a faculty of medicine. The first new students will be taken in next year. The university says the school will now be able to make a major contribution to tackling the shortage of medical doctors in Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire and beyond.
Worcester MP Robin Walker campaigned alongside other Worcestershire MPs to gain support for the plans. He said:
Robin Walker, MP for Worcester added: “I am immensely proud that 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.
“I know that a great deal of work has gone into creating the outstanding setting required to receive approval for the school from the General Medical Council, and I have been delighted to support that work throughout.”
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 team have done a wonderful job as have our contingent partner Swansea University Medical School.
“The General Medical Council quite rightly scrutinise the training of medical doctors with laser precision. We are delighted that we have passed their tests and may now proceed to select and admit the first cohort of students.
“We will do our very best to ensure that 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 Herefordshire and Worcestershire CCG, said: “This is fantastic news and a huge development for our local health and care system. The University already play 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 that we have supported right from the beginning because it was clear what a huge contribution it could make towards helping us to further improve the recruitment of doctors right across our services.”
Robin Walker, MP for Worcester added: “I am immensely proud that 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.
“I know that a great deal of work has gone into creating the outstanding setting required to receive approval for the school from the General Medical Council, and I have been delighted to support that work throughout.”
Mr. Walker is now leading a campaign, which is strongly supported by local MPs, for funded places to enable UK students to study at the Three Counties Medical School as soon as possible. Applications for the graduate entry medical school will open next month for entry in September 2022.
