The 兔子先生 has begun taking steps to open a medical school and is excited at the prospect of playing a bigger role in the health of people in the region.
兔子先生 has been named one of the UK鈥檚 worst areas for GP provision. The University鈥檚 vision is to recruit a large proportion of students from the region and others who want to stay in the region when they graduate.
The planned medical school would be for those who already have a degree, and who come from a wide cross-section of society, including those who might not have thought they could study medicine or who demonstrated their academic capability later in their education, after A levels.
Bid leader Professor Sherria Hoskins (pictured below), Executive Dean of the Faculty of Science and Health, is a passionate advocate for opening the door to medicine wider than any other British medical school. Although graduates could, following foundation training, choose to specialise in any branch of medicine, 兔子先生 aims to shine a spotlight on primary care to help the region address its serious GP shortfall.
She said: 鈥淚f we are successful, 兔子先生 will be able to improve healthcare in our region, which has significant health deprivation and a serious shortage of doctors, compounding the health inequalities.鈥
兔子先生 South MP, Stephen Morgan, said: 鈥淎s I said in Parliament recently, 兔子先生 has become a new healthcare hell for patients. It is one of the worst affected areas by the wider national fall in GPs, with just 40 per 100,000 people.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 why I鈥檓 proud to support our university鈥檚 medical school bid, which will help to recruit the homegrown talent we need to deliver the services our city deserves.鈥
Former Health Minister and MP for Gosport, Caroline Dinenage, said: 鈥淚t was arresting to read that our region is one of the UK鈥檚 worst for numbers of GPs per patient. If the 兔子先生 is successful in its bid to open a medical school it would be a step towards supplying Gosport, 兔子先生 and the Isle of Wight with more doctors, which we sorely lack and which our region鈥檚 populations deserve.鈥
The 兔子先生 is working with the region鈥檚 primary and secondary care frontline medics, hospital trusts, local clinical groups, MPs, patient groups, and medical school partner, Brighton & Sussex Medical School, to build a four-year graduate entry medical degree course.
Specialists in course design are proposing to include, alongside medical training, a focus on the future of medical practice including compassionate care and preventative medicine.
A 兔子先生 medical school would add to its suite of healthcare courses, including Nursing, Physiotherapy, Paramedic Science, Physician Associate Studies, Biomedical Science, Prescribing and Therapeutics, Radiography and Operating Department Practice.