Key members appointed for new medical school
THE University of Portsmouth’s plan for a new medical school to help address the city’s shortage of doctors has taken another step forward with the appointment of key team members.
Portsmouth is set to submit the next stage of its multi-stage bid, which could see the university start training medics at the new medical as soon as September 2024. Last month, new figures revealed thatPortsmouthwastheworst in the country for patients per GP with demand for services skyrocketing.
Bid leader Professor Sherria Hoskins, executive dean of the faculty of Science and Health, said: ‘The university’s medical school bid faces a long march before launching, but we are moving heaven and earth to be ready for when the governmentissuesacalltouniversities to open new medical schools.
‘If we are successful, Portsmouth will be able to improve healthcareinourregion,which has significant health deprivation and a serious shortage of doctors, compounding the health inequalities.’
ProfessorJohnCookson,an internationally-respected figure in medical education, has been named dean of the Medical School Development.
Other appointees of the development team include John Persson, project director, Dr Donna Glyde, a Portsmouth GP and primary care clinical champion, and Professor Peter Brennan, secondary care clinicalchampion,aswellasDr Theresa Martin, clinical programme developer and medical educator.#
Last month saw the university stage a live-action medical emergency–basedaroundthe collapse of Spinnaker Tower due a ferry collision – to train medical students alongside staff from Queen Alexandra Hospital.