THREE new physician associate students have started at the West Cumberland Hospital.

The trainees -- Rachel Atherton, Laura McMullen and Munira Patel -- will be mentored by consultants working between emergency care, medical wards, stroke and elderly care.

Whilst not a doctor the physician associate is an "innovative'' new health professional who works to the medical model and delivers care and treatment within a hospital setting or in GP practices.

It is hoped this new medical role will help with the WCH recruitment crisis by "growing their own'' workforce.

Dr Derek Thomson, medical director at North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “We are delighted to welcome the trainee physician associates to WCH as part of their clinical placement.

“The arrival of the trainees marks the start of something very exciting for both the Trust and West Cumbria.

"Our difficulties with medical recruitment have been longstanding and we have had to start thinking ‘out of the box’ when planning our future workforce models.''

And he added: "Our partnership with UCLan will bring in new expertise for the benefit of patient care, as well as helping to ‘grow our own’ medical talent.”

Peter Driscoll, academic lead for the physician associate programme at UCLan, said: “This initiative represents an important step in the development of resilient communities and becoming a national lead in this type of medical practice.”

Geoff Jolliffe, interim clinical chair for NHS Cumbria Clinical Commissioning Group, said: “The development of this type of training in West Cumbria is vitally important for the county’s health services and we’re delighted that this partnership with UCLan is well underway.”

The West Cumberland Medical Education Centre (WCMEC) is located between West Lakes Science Park and West Cumberland Hospital and is a collaboration between North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust, UCLan, NHS Cumbria Clinical Commissioning Group and the Cumbria Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.