Students praise new £5m health and social care centre

The first students to gain hands-on experience and training at the University of Wolverhampton’s new £5 million health and social care centre in Telford have praised the state-of-the-art facilities.

The Marches Centre of Excellence for Health and Social Care officially opened in May 2021, and the first cohort of students are now benefitting from the latest technology and innovative training facilities.

Based at the University’s Telford Campus, the Centre is part-funded by £3.5m from the Marches Local Enterprise Partnership’s Local Growth fund allocation and includes teaching spaces such as a mock house and simulated hospital settings.

It is providing students with industry-leading technology and experiences to equip them with the skills needed for a career on the frontline, as well as enabling those already working in the health and social care sector to gain new skills.

The Centre is proactively addressing shortfalls in health professionals across the Marches LEP area, with an emphasis on local people and students who will become key workers within the region.

Matthew Weston, a third-year Adult Nursing student studying at the Centre, said:

“Just before you qualify it’s scary, so to be able to practice on state-of-the-art equipment and realistic scenarios that we are going to be working with out in practice and when we qualify, it’s definitely a massive improvement and benefit for us.”

Megan Holloway, who is also studying nursing at the University, said:

“There are lots of interactive things in here which I haven’t had experience of before such as the simulation doll, which makes it much more realistic, you don’t have to rely on the lecturer to tell you what’s going on and you can feel it more for yourself. It’s experiences like this that really make the transition to practice easier.”

Marches LEP Chair Mandy Thorn MBE said:

“We are delighted to see that the Centre has got off to such a tremendous start. It is not only equipping a new generation of health and care professionals with the highest standards of training and skills now but will create a legacy that will benefit this region for years to come.

“It will help retain more young talent in this region by giving them the skills and experience they need to meet their own career ambitions and, in doing so, create more high-value jobs and opportunities.”

The new facilities include a room for paramedic science and other disciplines, a mock house, various teaching spaces and new student social spaces.

A new Anatomage Room has also 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 that allows students to digitally ‘see’ inside the human body.

The Marches Centre of Excellence provides provisions for a range of health and social care based courses including Adult Nursing, Mental Health Nursing, Paramedic Science, Social Work, Social Care and Emergency Planning.