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BRACKNELL and Wokingham College will be building a Care Skills Training Centre after securing funding for the project.
Activate Learning, which runs the college, was awarded £600,000 by Thames Valley Berkshire Local Enterprise Partnership last month.
he centre will have a simulated hospital ward and a flat for practising care in the home.
It has been designed in partnership with Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust, Health Education England and Skills for Care.
The industry-standard facilities will be used by students studying health and social care.
Nursing professionals from Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust will also use the facilities as part of their training.
Peter Reynolds, director of career pathways within Activate Learning’s Academic and Professional Studies faculty said: “We are really excited that we are able to work with our employer partners to create this new learning environment which will provide enhanced learning experiences for students and nurses.
“This facility will also enable us to increase to number of students training for roles in the health sector locally.
“The new state-of-the-art Care Skills Training Centre will enable our students at Bracknell and Wokingham College to take what they are learning within real-life care settings and develop their skills further.”
It is hoped the centre will open this autumn.
Katharine Horler, chair of the Thames Valley Berkshire Skills Advisory Panel led by the Thames Valley Berkshire LEP said it would boost skills in the area.
“The importance of key workers in the health and social care sectors has never been more apparent than during the pandemic.
“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,” she said.
“It should … transform the training of professionals in Berkshire and enable us to meet the increasing local demand within the health and social care workforce.”
Nicola Morgan, learning and development manager at Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust said they are looking forward to using the site.
And Pearly Thomas, head of clinical education at Berkshire Healthcare said they were pleased to be part of the “exciting project”.
