Healthcare training to a ‘T’ at Highbury Campus Tower

A healthcare training suite for T Level students has been opened at City of Portsmouth College by Penny Mordaunt MP.

The MP for Portsmouth North and Leader of the House of Commons was at the college’s Highbury Campus in Cosham to launch the £400k facilities.

She described the event as an important step in training the region’s next generation of healthcare professionals.

“There are so many amazing job opportunities within healthcare. It’s wonderful to see City of Portsmouth College working with the region’s employers to promote and celebrate the rewarding careers on offer,” she said.

Located on the 9th floor of the iconic Highbury Campus Tower, the medical centre is being kitted out to include a four-bay hospital ward, specialising in maternity, adult acute, elderly and theatre recovery care, together with a dispensary, nurses’ station, two bespoke classrooms and a breakout learning area.

The facilities are key to the college’s new T Level courses in Healthcare Science and Health & Nursing.

Both courses allow students the freedom to explore the healthcare sector before focusing their interests on a range of areas, including nursing, care work, healthcare science or laboratory science.

The two-year technical qualifications, equivalent to three A Levels, include a 45-day industry placement, giving students on-the-job experience, at the same time as gaining the skills and knowledge they need to progress straight into employment, an apprenticeship or university.

Employers from across the Solent region helped shape the new qualifications. They included experts from Solent NHS, Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust, Southampton Hospitals University NHS Trust, Southampton Audiology, Mary Rose Manor, Latham Lodge Nursing Home, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth City Council and the Solent Local Enterprise Partnership.

College Principal and CEO Katy Quinn said healthcare remains a major employer in the region with around 15% of the workforce employed in this key sector.

“Our new T Level provision will deliver work-ready, employable young people, to help our local economy meet the challenges of the future,” she said.

“We’ve built on our strong links with regional employers to open some amazing opportunities for our students once they’ve successfully completed their T Levels, including guaranteed interviews with local universities and bespoke routes into higher apprenticeships.

“There’s a vast range of career opportunities available within the healthcare sector and these new T Levels are already attracting new talent to ensure a qualified workforce for our region.”