APPROVED: The project (above) for the Tunbridge Wells hospital has been approved by planners and is expected to be built by March of next year.
Accommodation for 145 medical students and trainees as well as a teaching building at Tunbridge Wells Hospital have received planning approval.
Construction of the six-story building next to the hospital is scheduled to begin in early August and finish next March.
The first batch of students from Kent and Medway Medical School (KMMS) will arrive in September next year.
They will undertake clinical placements with confidence in the third, fourth and fifth years of their degree.
It is hoped the program will encourage students to stay and work at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, which runs both hospitals, once they qualify.
Dr Peter Maskell, Medical Director of the Trust, said: âProviding high quality student housing and teaching space within the hospital grounds will help attract future generations of physicians and medical students. confidence because they can live, learn and work near their clinic. placement.
âBy providing students with a good experience during their training, it is hoped that they will remain confident once they are qualified. This will lead to an increase in the number of medical staff employed by the trust and provide a vital boost, not only to improve local health and care, but also to contribute to the future resilience of the NHS. “
KMMS, which opened in September last year, will provide confidence to around 40 first class students.
But once the program is established, he plans to place an additional 120 medical students with the trust each year – a 315% increase in the number of students currently supported by the trust.
Students and young physicians will be split between the two trust hospitals, with slightly more being based at Tunbridge Wells Hospital due to the wider range of specialties there.
A free staff bus service is also available if students need to travel to Maidstone Hospital, the trust said.
He said he aimed to achieve an âexcellentâ rating under the Building Research Establishment’s environmental assessment method for its green credentials.
What’s inside
The ground floor of the building will house the academic space – a learning center, a private office, offices and toilets – as well as two six-bedroom apartments. Floors one through five will be student accommodation consisting of six, five or four bed apartments, all of which will have a shared kitchen, dining and living room and bathroom for each bedroom. In addition, eight wheelchair accessible apartments will be provided – two on each floor – from the first to the fourth floor.
On the roof there will be solar panels and a green roof on the southeast wing of the building.
The existing picnic area at the front of the building will be retained and enhanced with a new meadow terraced riverbank with seating and the existing woodland boardwalk will be extended. A green wall, plantations and raised beds will be installed to the northeast of the site as well as a hedge to separate the landing stage and 74 bicycle spaces on the site.
Chris Holland, Dean of Kent and Medway Medical School, said: âThe development of student accommodation and a teaching campus at Tunbridge Wells Hospital clearly shows how committed the Trust is to education. High quality.
âProviding a great internship experience is a crucial part of our shared vision to train and retain physicians in our region. This building will provide students of Kent and Medway Medical School, as well as students from other medical schools and health programs, with the facilities and accommodation they need for their studies.
“The school and our placement partners across the region are focused on enabling our graduates to become the future physicians that we work together to train.”
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