A DEDICATED £3.2 million training centre for student doctors is set to be built at York Hospital - offering mock wards where trainees can practise medical procedures on specially-designed mannequins.
Excited York Hospitals NHS Trust bosses hope that the state-of-the-art learning centre will attract more high quality staff and students to the city, as the trust continues to increase its medical workforce over the next four years.
The funding is already in place for the planned centre, a partnership between the trust and Hull York Medical School (HYMS), which will also be used by experienced hospital staff during training updates. But if a further £3.2 million can be secured, a postgraduate centre, including specialised library, will also be built.
The unit will also include a centre for the North Yorkshire Research and Development Alliance, which co-ordinates all medical research taking place in the county.
The trust has submitted a planning application to City of York Council to build a 15,000 sq ft first-floor flat-roof extension over the existing renal unit, kitchen and restaurant.
The planned extension will house the undergraduate training centre, the postgraduate centre and the co-ordination centre.
Dr Jonathan Thow, a consultant physician at York Hospital and director of clinical studies at HYMS, said the plans were good news for patients and for York itself. He said: "It is extremely exciting. It's a facility that will have a much bigger impact on local health care standards than people might at first think.
"We are training our own doctors to a high level and they will hopefully go on to work in the local community.
"Having this kind of facility also attracts people to work here. There are close links with the research unit which increases research in this patch, which again brings in a high quality workforce. If everything goes to plan this will be one of the best integrated units around."
If the plans are given the go-ahead by the council the building work for the undergraduate centre is expected to be completed by August 2005.
The application is to go before a City of York Council planning committee. No date has yet been set for this.
Updated: 10:46 Saturday, October 16, 2004
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article