Medical school plan for Portsmouth to tackle GP shortfall takes a step forward after university secures key approval

The University of Portsmouth is planning a new medical school which will be aimed primarily at local people, with the goal of helping address the region’s shortfall in doctors.

The GMC gave the university’s plans stage three approval, bringing its goal to open in September 2024 a step closer. It now needs final approval from the GMC to enable it to award a UK medical degree.

The university’s vice-chancellor Professor Graham Galbraith said: ‘A medical school in the city is a long-held vision for us. Our region is one of the country’s worst-served by GPs and the people living in our city and region suffer an indefensible inequality in accessing health care. We look forward to playing a big role in changing that.’

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Leader of the bid, executive dean of science and health, Professor Sherria Hoskins said she was thrilled to have gained the support of the GMC to proceed to the next stages of the GMC process that are required to recruit students to a new medical school.

She said: ‘Our aim is to establish an innovative medical school which serves our city and our region, including under-served rural and coastal areas such as Gosport and the Isle of Wight.

‘We’ve been inundated with support from MPs, doctors, healthcare Trusts and patient groups.

‘Our dream as a university has always been to open doors to all those who can benefit from higher education. This core belief will have a huge impact on our new medical school. It will give those who may have believed a career in medicine was not for them the chance to become doctors and stay in the city or region to help address a frankly shocking shortfall of doctors locally.’

The region is one of the worst in the UK for the number of doctors per patient, with 2,500 people per GP and the university’s medical school project has been in the pipeline for some years, with experts in launching medical schools, medical teaching and learning, and frontline medics working to build a case for a new school.

The university expects that its first intake will be 50 UK students on a four-year graduate entry course, increasing to 80 students a year, with potential for more in the longer term. The bid team has been working with the region’s four NHS Trusts, GP networks, patient groups and the public to help ensure any new medical school answers the region’s healthcare needs.

The latest NHS Digital figures show there were 101 full-time equivalent GPs in the former NHS Portsmouth CCG area. But of these, 17 were in training, meaning just 83 were fully qualified – the same as a year earlier. Nationally, there were 27,400 fully trained GPs – down from 27,900 the previous year and a decrease of 1.7 per cent, the largest annual fall in more than three years.

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