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A Herefordshire charity has donated £250,000 to create a specialist anatomy suite for use by health students at the ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ of Worcester.

The Clive and Sylvia Richards Charity has made the generous donation in recognition of the ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ’s work to educate the next generation of health professionals.

The anatomy suite will provide specialist facilities and equipment for training student Nurses, Midwives, Paramedics and Medical students, once approval for a new Medical School to be based at the ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ is achieved. The new state-of-the-art anatomy suite will be located in the former Worcester News building which is currently being fully renovated and repurposed to create a new Health and Medicine building for the ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ’s fast-growing numbers of top calibre health students.

Clive Richards CBE KSG DL, who is also a Vice President of the ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ’s College of Fellows, said: “We are delighted to be able to make this award to the ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ and to help with the education of all its health students going forwards. This anatomy suite will give those students access to state-of-the-art equipment and facilities.”

The Clive and Sylvia Richards Charity is committed to supporting charitable causes where its financial support will 'make a difference' in Education, Healthcare, Heritage and the Arts. The Charity has previously made donations to the development of the ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ of Worcester Arena and towards more than 100 student scholarships at Worcester.

The ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ of Worcester, which was shortlisted for the second year running as ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ of the Year in the prestigious Times Higher Education Awards, is one of the ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ’s largest, high-quality educators of health professionals. Every year hundreds of paramedics, physiotherapists, and occupational therapists, as well as nurses and midwives, graduate from Worcester, many of whom opted to join the NHS early this year in order to assist with the national emergency and help to save lives.

Earlier this year, the ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ was awarded 473 extra places annually for health professional students. This was the biggest increase in places for health professional students for any ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ university. By 2023 over 1,400 health professional students will be studying at the ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ making the creation of new clinical simulation and specialist anatomy facilities an urgent necessity, Students taking these vital degree courses require intensive face-to-face practical teaching in dedicated clinical simulation suites in order to gain the high-quality skills needed to complete their course and go on to serve patients and support and protect the NHS going forward.

Professor David Green CBE, Vice Chancellor and Chief Executive, said: “We are very grateful to the Clive and Sylvia Richards Charity for this most generous gift which will do so much for the education of the health professionals on whose skill and dedication the health of the people of Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Gloucestershire and the wider region depend. The medical and health professionals who will use the anatomy suite will make a transformative contribution for the better to our City and region. The Covid-19 pandemic has shown everyone how we need dedicated health professionals more than ever.” 

The ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ’s plans for the Three Counties Medical School are currently progressing through the General Medical Council’s approvals and assessment procedures. The ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ is currently at Stage 4 and is hoping to be able to open for Medical students in 2022-23.

Steven Thrush, MBBS, FRCS, consultant surgeon at the Royal Worcestershire Hospital, who is one of the country’s top breast surgeons and who was also named in the top five NHS Doctors in the country in the ‘NHS at 70’ awards, said: “The development of the Three Counties Medical School at the ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ of Worcester will be wonderful news for the whole community and for everyone who is passionate for health and medical education. This generous gift to create a much-needed anatomy suite is a marvellous, thoughtful investment in the future by the Clive and Sylvia Richards charity which is doing so much good in society.”

The ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ of Worcester, currently ranked in the top three for Quality Education in the Times Higher Education ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ Impact Rankings, was shortlisted for several awards in this year’s Student Nursing Times Awards, including Nurse Education Provider of the Year (Pre-registration), Best Student Experience, and Teaching Innovation of the Year . The ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ was also shortlisted for the second year running as ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ of the Year in the ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ Social Mobility Awards and in the recent THE Awards won the inaugural award for Outstanding Contribution to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. In the most recent National Student Survey, Worcester was ranked number one in the ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ for Midwifery out of the 75 universities who educate midwives. 

Watch Clive Richards CBE KSG DL talk about the donation and the need for more health students in the future.