PLANS for a multi-million- pound medical education campus to transform healthcare have taken a critical step forward.

Two new professors are to lead the teaching and research at the new facility, to be based at Westlakes Science Park near Whitehaven.

The innovative site will see

huge investment over the next five years, with the aim of also developing education in medicine, nursing, pharmacy and dentistry.

Dr John Howarth and Professor Janusz Jankowski will spearhead the staff at the unique campus, which will combine academic facilities through the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) with the West Cumberland Hospital (WCH).

Professor Jankowski, a gastroenterology consultant, will be involved with student placements and establishing the academic structures. He will also work as a consultant at WCH.

Change, he said, would “not be a revolution but pretty quick evolution” with a list of short, medium and long-term goals available by the end of summer. These could include medical scholarships offered to the “brightest and best” local students.

The campus will also bring teaching and research posts to the area, attract senior academics and clinicians and develop the area for medical research, as well as carrying out clinical duties within the area’s NHS.

Professor Cathy Jackson, UCLan’s head of school of medicine, said: “The appointment of these two professors is the first step on what looks to be the beginning of an exciting journey for the region.

“UCLan’s School of Medicine has very ambitious plans for the development of medical education and research in west Cumbria.

“It is working with the trusts, the Cumbria Commissioning Group and the community to bring these together with all the resulting benefits these will bring over the course of the next few years to staff recruitment and retention in the area.”

The campus will help deliver improvements in remote and rural healthcare, as well as providing a facility to train west Cumbria’s clinical workforce and students from across the world.

Dr Howarth is deputy chief executive of the Cumbria Partnership NHS Trust, and will take on his new role alongside this. His teaching role at the campus will see him focus on the development of the infrastructure and networks for primary care and community health care research for UCLan, while building the networks for primary care and community-based teaching in the region.

He said: “My first job as a doctor was in Whitehaven so it is a real privilege to return 33 years later as professor of primary care with UCLan.

“The new medical school campus development is incredibly exciting and I am particularly pleased that there is a role recognising the importance of general practice and community services.”

The WCMEC is a collaboration between the University, North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust, NHS Cumbria Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and the Cumbria Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.