£5.8m Centre for Health Innovation opened at Staffordshire University

Staffordshire University has opened the doors of its new £5.8 million Centre for Health Innovation.

Offering a series of flexible and immersive simulation spaces, the centre aims to enhance clinical competency and the learning experience for students.

It has been part-funded by Stoke-on-Trent & Staffordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) via the Government’s Getting Building Fund. The LEP allocated £2.89m to this scheme to help bring forward the facility and generate further opportunities for learners and businesses in the area.

The facility was officially opened by Professor Mark Radford CBE, Chief Nurse for Health Education England and Deputy Chief Nursing Officer for England and honorary Doctor of Staffordshire University.
The Centre will be the study base for more than 2,000 student nurses, midwives and paramedics.

Professor Martin Jones, Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive at Staffordshire University said: “Completion of the Centre for Health Innovation is an important milestone in our ambition to become the UK’s best modern university.

“Our new sector-leading facilities in Stafford will help drive the digital health agenda and accelerate the transformation of the health workforce using immersive technology and advanced teaching. We’re also delighted that the Centre will play a key role in supporting start-ups and SMEs through the facilities, expertise and support we have to offer, driving new innovations and promoting new product development and research.”

The Centre is one of just five centres of Excellence worldwide recognised by medical simulation training product provider CAE Healthcare.

It features audio-visual observation equipment to facilitate remote delivery and also a range of blank canvas rooms to allow a switch to different real-world settings, from patients’ homes and hospital wards through to businesses environments and public spaces.

Mike Phillips, Interim Executive Dean in the School of Health, Science and Wellbeing, said: “This substantial investment in digitally-enabled applied learning and teaching at the Centre for Health Innovation takes immersive education to the next level.

“This is a flexible and versatile space and we are actively encouraging innovative businesses the opportunity to see what it could do for them. Our facilities could be of use to employers requiring a safe space to train staff to work in different environments or those in search of a venue for product testing or film sets.”

The Centre for Health Innovation is the latest in a series of significant campus transformation investments made by Staffordshire University over the last 18-months. The University recently launched The Catalyst, a £40 million regional hub for digital skills and apprenticeships at its Stoke-on-Trent campus and is set to open its £4.5m Woodlands Day Nursery and Forest School on the same site later this year.

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