Your View
Please let us know your thoughts on the economic and other benefits that the Campus would bring the area
Groundbreaking Healthcare Research Centre Planned for Inverness CampusGroundbreaking Healthcare Research Centre Planned for Inverness Campus
The Centre for Health Science (CfHS), Inverness, has unveiled plans to create a pioneering new research and education centre focusing on modern challenges in healthcare within the proposed Inverness Campus, a major combined academic campus on the eastern side of Inverness.
The new phase of Inverness’s CfHS will focus on key issues facing rural healthcare professionals. It will contain the following:
· Primary Care Department focusing on the impact of the Government’s planned shift in the balance of care from hospitals to the community
· Centre for Wellbeing researching issues surrounding the trend towards wellbeing in healthcare, the workplace and social services in the Highlands.
· Natural Products Centre which will provide resources and research for the many organisations involved in plant and marine based natural products in the Highlands, which has a history of using natural products dating back to the 13th Century.
Plans for a multi-disciplinary healthcare practice, incorporating dentistry, medical care, pharmacy, nursing and allied healthcare professionals to serve both the campus and local community are also at an early stage.
Ruaraidh MacNeil, of Highlands and Islands Enterprise and head of operations for the Inner Moray Firth, said: “The Inverness Campus is the most exciting development for the Highlands in the next 20 years. To have a life sciences centre carrying out groundbreaking research on modern healthcare trends will attract top professionals and students while providing lots of opportunities for local people. It will also provide long-term benefits for the health of Highland communities.
“Phase 4 of CfHS will also further develop Inverness’s burgeoning life sciences cluster, which we believe is an exciting area of growth for the region over the next decade and beyond.”
The existing three-phase Centre for Health Science, completed in January 2009, uniquely brings together three universities, the private sector, NES and the NHS to focus on healthcare teaching, training and research. Over 250 staff work in the Centre with an average salary of £45,000. At any one time 600 students are involved in courses based at the building.
The Centre, adjacent to Inverness’ Raigmore Hospital, has made a real impact on healthcare in the Highlands, particularly through work carried out by the Centre for Rural Health and the Diabetes Institute.
Professor Alasdair Munro, a retired Consultant General Surgeon at Raigmore Hospital and Chair of the CfHS board, is leading the discussion on strategic development for phase 4 of the Centre for Health Science.
He said: “We are hugely excited about the Inverness Campus and the development of the Centre for Health Science, which will focus on very challenging developments in the provision of healthcare.
“The whole ethos of the Inverness Campus – one of joint working, knowledge sharing and partnership – fits perfectly with the Centre for Health Science.
“The Highlands need an academic campus to continue growing and to attract large employers to the region. By creating a facility for education, the Centre for Health Science is making a real impact on the area.
“The Highlands has long suffered from a shortage of this sort of skills development and skilled jobs. The Campus will repeat what CfHS has done on a much larger scale and we intend to be an integral part of the success story.”
Ends
Contact: Natalie Buxton at Weber Shandwick on 01463 716739 or 07770 886934.
The Centre for Health Science (CfHS), Inverness, has unveiled plans to create a pioneering new research and education centre focusing on modern challenges in healthcare within the proposed Inverness Campus, a major combined academic campus on the eastern side of Inverness.
The new phase of Inverness’s CfHS will focus on key issues facing rural healthcare professionals. It will contain the following:
· Primary Care Department focusing on the impact of the Government’s planned shift in the balance of care from hospitals to the community
· Centre for Wellbeing researching issues surrounding the trend towards wellbeing in healthcare, the workplace and social services in the Highlands.
· Natural Products Centre which will provide resources and research for the many organisations involved in plant and marine based natural products in the Highlands, which has a history of using natural products dating back to the 13th Century.
Plans for a multi-disciplinary healthcare practice, incorporating dentistry, medical care, pharmacy, nursing and allied healthcare professionals to serve both the campus and local community are also at an early stage.
Ruaraidh MacNeil, of Highlands and Islands Enterprise and head of operations for the Inner Moray Firth, said: “The Inverness Campus is the most exciting development for the Highlands in the next 20 years. To have a life sciences centre carrying out groundbreaking research on modern healthcare trends will attract top professionals and students while providing lots of opportunities for local people. It will also provide long-term benefits for the health of Highland communities.
“Phase 4 of CfHS will also further develop Inverness’s burgeoning life sciences cluster, which we believe is an exciting area of growth for the region over the next decade and beyond.”
The existing three-phase Centre for Health Science, completed in January 2009, uniquely brings together three universities, the private sector, NES and the NHS to focus on healthcare teaching, training and research. Over 250 staff work in the Centre with an average salary of £45,000. At any one time 600 students are involved in courses based at the building.
The Centre, adjacent to Inverness’ Raigmore Hospital, has made a real impact on healthcare in the Highlands, particularly through work carried out by the Centre for Rural Health and the Diabetes Institute.
Professor Alasdair Munro, a retired Consultant General Surgeon at Raigmore Hospital and Chair of the CfHS board, is leading the discussion on strategic development for phase 4 of the Centre for Health Science.
He said: “We are hugely excited about the Inverness Campus and the development of the Centre for Health Science, which will focus on very challenging developments in the provision of healthcare.
“The whole ethos of the Inverness Campus – one of joint working, knowledge sharing and partnership – fits perfectly with the Centre for Health Science.
“The Highlands need an academic campus to continue growing and to attract large employers to the region. By creating a facility for education, the Centre for Health Science is making a real impact on the area.
“The Highlands has long suffered from a shortage of this sort of skills development and skilled jobs. The Campus will repeat what CfHS has done on a much larger scale and we intend to be an integral part of the success story.”
Ends />
Contact: Natalie Buxton at Weber Shandwick on 01463 716739 or 07770 886934.