Bradford explores medical school bid

The Department of Health consultation will inform the competitive bidding process for the allocation of 1,000 new medical school places, which will be designed by the Higher Education Funding Council for England and Health Education England.

The Department’s objective is to make the NHS self-sufficient in doctors by 2025, increasing medical school places by 1500, with 500 places being allocated to existing medical schools in 2018.

Alongside its response to the consultation, the University is developing a business case with a view to making a formal bid in the competitive bidding process later in 2017. The bid will be distinctive, and focused on the development of a Bradford Doctor, able to operate in future multi-disciplinary teams working at the forefront of digital health care, and with the ability to lead multi-disciplinary, person-centred community-based care. The University plans to recruit up to 150 A level and graduate entry candidates as its first medical students for the 2019/2020 academic year.

With its successful teaching of almost all other types of health professionals, including nursing, pharmacy and physician associates, and its outstanding pre-clinical school, the University is well placed to make a competitive bid for a medical school. Bradford has outstanding facilities, staff and the ability to provide high quality practice placements with its partners. The , to be established beside Bradford Royal Infirmary, will bring together researchers from the Universities of Bradford and Leeds with clinicians from Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

University of Bradford Vice-Chancellor, Professor Brian Cantor, said: “The potential expansion into undergraduate medical provision supports Bradford’s three strategic themes of advanced healthcare, innovative engineering and sustainable societies. It also provides an important and exciting opportunity for the University, our NHS partners, the City of Bradford and Department of Health to make a significant impact on local and national health and well-being. As a world-leading technology university we have the necessary vision, skills, ambition and facilities.”