UWS health teaching develops

May 11 2010 by Kenneth Speirs, Paisley Daily Express

BOSSES at Paisley’s university aim to take a leading role in healthcare education.

The University of the West of Scotland is to introduce four new professional posts that it says will result in “significant benefits to the Scottish health sector”.

Bosses said these are being introduced in a bid to ensure teaching at the higher education facility meets the needs of developing healthcare.

The change in the country’s population profile, along with changing health demands such as the current hike in obesity and coupled with changes to clinical practice, mean universities have to keep developing their research and teaching.

Now the new Paisley posts will provide an important link between research and teaching at the university.

The aim is to ensure the uni’s health research underpins delivery and course developments and provides future graduates with a wide range of relevant skills.

The new posts – Professor in Older Persons’ Health, Professor/Reader in Maternal Health, Professor/Reader in Healthcare Associated Infection and Professor/Reader in Care Improvement – have been developed in consultation with NHS Scotland.

Paisley’s university recently established formal partnerships, known as Memorandums of Understanding, with four health boards – NHS Ayrshire & Arran, NHS Dumfries & Galloway, NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde and NHS Lanarkshire.

These memorandums aim to enhance and increase clinical research collaboration between the university and the health boards, as well as supporting the development of NHS staff.

Paul Martin, Executive Dean of University of the West of Scotland’s Faculty of Education, Health and Social Sciences, said: “The new professorial posts will play an important role in our ongoing strategy to ensure that our health, nursing and midwifery provision continues to reflect developments in, and produce graduates that meet the demands of, the health sector.

“These posts will also play a key role in driving forward the university’s health-related research agenda, cementing our international research profile. The creation of these four new professorships will therefore result in clear benefits for the health sector – providing greater opportunities for research collaboration, as well as ensuring future and current professionals have the skills required by this continually evolving sector.”