Health Secretary tours Anglia Ruskin's facilities

MP Matt Hancock visits state-of-the-art School of Medicine on Chelmsford campus

The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Matt Hancock MP, visited Anglia Ruskin University this week (Thursday, 20 December) to tour its brand new School of Medicine and learn more about how research and innovation is assisting both teaching and the NHS.

During the 90-minute tour Mr Hancock, who is also the constituency MP for West Suffolk, was invited to try out virtual reality technology by Paul Driver, who was recently named Learning Technologist of the Year by the Association of Learning Technologists. The technology is used by Anglia Ruskin’s Nursing students to replicate life on a ward.

Following a tour of the School of Medicine, Mr Hancock also listened to a presentation by Professor Tony Young, Director of Clinical Innovation at Anglia Ruskin University, about the NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Programme, of which Anglia Ruskin is a partner.

The programme is in its third year and has become the world’s largest entrepreneurial training programme in healthcare, with more than 360 frontline clinical staff currently taking part and finding new ways to innovate in practice with the help of commercial mentoring, connections to funding and training opportunities.

Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Mr Hancock, who was joined on the visit by MP for Chelmsford, Vicky Ford, said:

“It’s fantastic to visit Anglia Ruskin - one of the five brand new medical schools being created as part of the Government’s expansion of medical training places – one of the biggest in NHS history.

“I want to make it as easy as possible for more of our NHS staff to become great innovators from day one of their careers. The NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Programme offers trainees the opportunity to practice whilst also developing cutting-edge, innovative projects that will benefit the health service and its patients.”

Professor Roderick Watkins, Acting Vice Chancellor of Anglia Ruskin University, said:

“We are extremely proud of our healthcare provision here at Anglia Ruskin, and it was a pleasure to be able to take the Secretary of State around our Chelmsford campus and show him how we are educating the healthcare workforce.

“Anglia Ruskin University is one of the largest providers of healthcare education in the East of England, and it is vital that we continue to innovate and pioneer new ways of helping our partners in the NHS to deal with the challenges brought about by an ageing population.”