£1.8m contract boost for trainee doctors
TRAINEE doctors in the North West will soon benefit from a new million-pound contract awarded to Edge Hill and the Royal College of Physicians.
The £1.8m contract means students at the University’s Medical School will soon be receiving training in leadership as well as medical education.
While UK medical education and training equips doctors with the skills and knowledge to provide high quality care for patients, very few receive any formal management or leadership training.
Becoming an effective clinical supervisor and leader benefits not only the individual doctor but also the NHS hospital they work in, as hospitals with engaged medical leaders tend to perform better.
The new Postgraduate Medical Education and Leadership Development Programme is funded by Health Education England (HEE) North West and will enable up to 600 higher specialty trainees each year to undertake a module on the knowledge and skills required to be a competent clinical supervisor and an effective leader in the NHS.
Julie Bridson, Head of Postgraduate Medical Education, said: “Edge Hill University has been delivering medical education and medical leadership modules for HEE (NW) for several years and we are delighted to have been awarded this contract.
“There is no doubt that the high quality of the provision to date provided a solid foundation for our bid and is testament to our expertise and dedicated team of staff.
“Our programme will deliver high quality provision that is focused on patients, with the aim of enhancing safe and effective patient care in the complex NHS to develop medical educators and leaders of the future.
“It is really exciting to be continuing and expanding our collaboration with the prestigious RCP and bringing significant expertise to enhance our provision and opportunities for international expansion.”
The contract award recognises the success of the longstanding collaboration between Edge Hill
University and the RCP in providing medical leadership courses and programmes and extends the range of options available to doctors across the North West region.
One of the major advantages of the new programme is that the education can be delivered in different places in the North West, including the RCP’s new northern home in Liverpool, The Spine, which will open in 2021.
The RCP is committed to providing more services for doctors in the north and the new building will act as a hub for its members and a centre of medical excellence.
RCP president Professor Andrew Goddard said: “I wish that I had been able to access educational opportunities like this at the start of my career.
“Learning about clinical leadership not only makes us better doctors but it improves our ability to navigate operational issues in the NHS so that we can organise better services for patients.
“I’m very proud that as part of our commitment to improving health in the north as we open our first ever office there, we invest in our future doctors and their education, which will in turn improve patient care.”
The contract is initially for three years and the programme has been designed to offer a flexible modular framework that allows doctors to gain a postgraduate award (PGC/PGD) or Masters degree in either medical education or medical leadership, or combine both attributes into a more general clinical professional development framework.
For more information about the Medical School, visit https://www.edgehill.ac.uk/medicalschool/