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Posted on:
7th October, 2021

How one LEP is driving innovation in healthcare

Investment in healthcare innovation by the Marches LEP is giving hands-on experience and training to the next generation of key workers.

How one LEP is driving innovation in healthcare

Immersive tech and state-of-the-art simulation facilities are part of the £5million Marches Centre of Excellence for Health and Social Care in Telford.

The LEP invested £3.5m of Growth Deal funding in the health and social care centre which officially opened its doors earlier this year running courses for nursing, paramedic and social care students.

Developed in partnership with the University of Wolverhampton, the centre will enable students to gain hands-on, real-life experience of the profession they will enter and ensure they have the skills and knowledge to benefit employers.  

It provides new skills and simulation facilities that can be used across health and social care disciplines. It will proactively address shortfalls in health professionals across the Marches area, with an emphasis on local people and students who will become key workers within the region.  

Chair of the Marches Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) Mandy Thorn said:

“This wonderful new centre makes good on our commitment as a LEP to ensuring that we have first-class training and learning opportunities in this crucial sector for the whole region. 

“It will help us retain more of our young talent in this region by giving them the skills and experience they need to meet their own career ambitions and to create more high-value jobs and opportunities for years to come, with all the spin-off benefits that that brings to the wider economy.

“I can think of no better investment that the Marches LEP could be making at this time.” 

Vice-Chancellor Professor Geoff Layer said:

“This centre will provide state-of-the-art training facilities and equipment for the next generation of key workers, as well as enabling those already working in the health and social care sector to gain new skills.

"Our 10-year plan, Vision 2030, outlines how the University is focused on being a driver of social and economic transformation in our region, providing opportunities and influencing change, and developing the health and social care workforce to meet local demand is a pivotal part of this ambition.”

A new Anatomage Room has been created, following on from the success of similar innovations at the University’s Wolverhampton and Walsall Campus. This features a state-of-the-art Anatomage table which allows students to digitally ‘see’ inside the human body.