Plans have been revealed for a new medical school in Carlisle.
The University of Cumbria is working with Imperial College London are working together and it is hoped the graduate entry medical school will enrol its first students in 2025. It will be based at the new Citadels campus in Carlisle.
The partnership aims to unite Imperial’s expertise as one of the best medical schools in the world with the University of Cumbria’s skills in the education of nurses, midwives and allied health professionals.
Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid said: “This partnership between Imperial College London and University of Cumbria will help level up opportunity and train more doctors in the North West.
“The new medical school supports our ambition to grow the workforce and already there are 1,500 more medical school places – a 25 per cent increase – and five new medical schools across the country since 2017.
“Our doctors have worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic to care for us and our loved ones, and it is this dedication that is inspiring the next generation.”
Professor Brian Webster-Henderson, deputy vice chancellor (health, environment and innovation), the University of Cumbria’s strategic lead on the initiative said: “This significant partnership will enable us to expand our diverse health care portfolio to include medicine for the first time, and develop joint research programmes to address many of the county’s unique challenges.
“The new school’s location will have the dual benefit of opening up more opportunities to study medicine in the North West, and provide a steady stream of trained doctors for the region.”
Martin Lupton, vice dean (education), at Imperial’s Faculty of Medicine said: “In order to help redress imbalances in social deprivation, health inequality and medical staff shortages across the country, the University of Cumbria and Imperial College London have committed to co-create a new medical school in Carlisle.
“Our two institutions are complementary, bringing their own unique set of attributes to the collaboration, and share a common mission to improve the health and well-being of the people of Cumbria and the North West through education and research.”
John Stevenson, Carlisle MP, said: “This is great news for Carlisle and the wider region, which has traditionally had difficulties recruiting and retaining much medical staff. A new medical school should go some way to addressing recruitment issues in our health service in Carlisle and more widely across Cumbria.
“It is fantastic that our local university is at the forefront of this initiative. With an emphasis on community, public and rural health and health and social inequalities it will be well placed to benefit our residents. I am pleased that our local NHS providers are also fully behind this proposal.”
Prof Mike Thomas, Chair, University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust (UHMBT), said: “We’re delighted to be supporting the training of the doctors of tomorrow in Cumbria and are looking forward to welcoming the first students in 2025.
“It’s exciting that we will be able to shape and be involved in their training.”
