Three new medical schools

It is great news for West Cumberland Hospital and for patients in West Cumbria that today the health secretary announced three new medical schools as part of the NHS Workforce Plan.

Health secretary Steve Barclay laid out plans for the creation of three new medical schools and unveiled a new £30 million fund to speed out the roll out of cutting-edge technology across the NHS, improving patient care in the long-term and helping to cut waiting lists. 

• A strong NHS workforce, backed my new technologies and medical advancements, will ensure our NHS is fit for the future and there for people when they need it.
• The biggest challenge for hospital and health services, from district general hospitals to GP and Dental surgeries, has been the shortage of doctors, dentists and other medical professionals which is mainly due to the fact that for thirty years, under governments of all political parties, Britain has  not been training enough of them. That's why there is a shortage of GPs in many parts of Cumbria and is the main reason behind repeated threats to local hospital services. Jeremy Hunt finally started to address this when he was health secretary, increasing the number of medical training places and launching a previous round of new medical scbools. But although this was welcome, still more places were needed. 
• That is why I was very pleased to hear the Health Secretary today announce the creation of three new NHS medical schools to provide a further 205 undergraduate places from September next year and help deliver on the government's long-term ambition to double the number of medical school places to 15,000 by 2031. 
• The Health Secretary also announced the creation of a new £30 million Health Technology Adoption and Acceleration Fund, helping local NHS organisations to rapidly adopt new technologies to detect illnesses sooner, help people receive treatment in their own home, and increase productivity.
• This is good news, I hope and expect that today’s announcements will ensure patients get the care they need when they need it – as we focus on making the long-term decisions for a brighter future.