Refurbishment completion heralds new era of keyworker training

Construction is now complete on the £5 million health and social care training centre in Telford with the work officially handed over by contractor, Overbury following their appointment via Pagabo’s Refit & Refurbishment Framework.

The new Marches Centre of Excellence for Health and Social Care at the Telford Campus will provide state-of-the-art training facilities for the next generation of key workers.

The Centre, which has received £3.5m Growth Deal funding from the Marches Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), will enable students to gain hands-on, real-life experience of the profession they will enter and ensure they have the skills and knowledge to benefit employers.

Overbury’s Birmingham-based team was appointed as the contractor to lead the refurbishment and fit out of existing space in the Angad Paul Building at the Priorslee campus designed by architects Broadway Malayan. The University Project team worked with Faithful & Gould as the client-side project manager, Gleeds as Project Management and cost management services. Design MEP managed the mechanical and electrical elements and Design2e as structural engineers.

The Centre will create new skills and simulation facilities that can be used across health and social care disciplines. It will proactively address shortfalls in health professionals across the Marches area, with an emphasis on local people and students who will become key workers within the area.

The new facilities will include a room for paramedic science and other disciplines, a mock house, various teaching spaces and new student social spaces.

Tim Steele, Pro Vice-Chancellor at the University, said: “This is another exciting milestone for the new Marches Centre for Excellence for Health and Social Care at the Telford Campus. The importance of key workers in the health and social care sectors has never been more apparent than during the Covid-19 pandemic, and with increasing numbers of people wanting to study healthcare related courses, this Centre will provide state-of-the-art training facilities both for the existing and next generation of key workers.

“We’re delighted to have created an innovative and technologically advanced learning environment for students which will undoubtedly boost skills in the region and beyond. It will transform the training of professionals for the Marches area and enable us to meet the increasing local demand within the health and social care workforce.”

Mandy Thorn MBE, Chair of the Marches LEP, said: “The new centre will play a vital part in ensuring this region leads the way in the training of health and care workers and it is excellent news that another important milestone in its development has been passed.”

Andrew Wood, Managing Director at Overbury, said: “Overbury are proud to have been part of a project that will help train the next generation of key workers. From the teaching spaces to the simulation facilities, it was a fantastic project to be involved in.”

The Centre will also include an immersive reality suite for emergency planning and simulations of a variety of clinical and non-clinical settings, interview and mock office environments for social work training and student collaboration spaces.

A new Anamotage Room will be created, following on from the success of similar innovations at the University’s Wolverhampton and Walsall Campus. This will feature a state-of-the-art Anamotage table which allows students to digitally ‘see’ inside the human body.

The project was delivered via the Pagabo Refit & Refurbishment Framework offering added value to the University. Overbury committed to working with a local supply base and supported University of Wolverhampton apprentices and students to take an active role within the Overbury team and the scheme. The project generated £9,935,169 in social value, meaning that for every £1 spent, a Social Return on Investment of £3.55 was created.  Much of this was focused on Overbury’s dedication to spending locally.

The first phase of the project will see the development of new academic courses, Degree Apprenticeships and Continuous Professional Development (CPD) courses at the Telford Campus from September 2021.

The Centre is due to officially open for existing students in May 2021.

Anyone interested in studying in the University’s Institute of Health should register for one of the University’s forthcoming Virtual Open Days.