The University of East Anglia (UEA) has been given the green light to increase the number of medical student places at Norwich Medical School to create more opportunities for people to train as doctors.
Last year it was announced the medical school, which opened in 2002, had bagged an extra 16 places for September 2018. But an announcement today added a further 25 places for September 2019.
It takes the total number of medical student places offered at Norwich Medical School, UEA from 167 in 2017 to 208 for 2019.
The additional 25 medical student places are part of the 1,000 medical training places announced by government today (Tuesday).
Professor Dylan Edwards, pro-vice chancellor for medicine and health sciences, said: 'We are very pleased that our application to increase the number of places has been successful. We believe that the University of East Anglia is in an ideal position to expand its medical education provision and can help to address the national situation that we face.'
Professor Michael Frenneaux, head of Norwich Medical School, added: 'This decision is a recognition of the excellent training that we provide to our students'
UEA had to bid for the right to increase the number of places to the Higher Education Funding Council for England which worked with Health Education England to allocate the additional places.
Chloe Smith, Conservative MP for Norwich North, said: 'This shows the Government is investing in the NHS in Norwich. It is a good thing for the NHS in our area to have more medical students being trained at the UEA, and certainly very welcome news for the whole country as we need to support and expand the NHS workforce.'
And Clive Lewis, Labour MP for Norwich South, added: 'Last year the British Medical Association (BMA) warned patient care is at risk due to a chronic shortage of doctors across most areas of medicine. So these much needed extra medical student places are excellent news for Norwich and the local health trusts working in partnership with the UEA.
'But that's not the entire story with this. The BMA revealed that training places across three in four medical specialities in England went unfilled last year, with many specialities experiencing recruitment shortfalls year on year.
'If we're to make the most of new medical student places this government is so proud to announce, then they need to get a grip on the system-wide recruitment crisis they've created too.'
Also included in the government's announcement was that five brand new medical schools would open across the country this September, including at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge where 100 places have been created.
The University of Cambridge will also get a boost with 42 new places over the next two years.
Professor Iain Martin, vice chancellor of Anglia Ruskin University, said: 'Integrated education, research and innovation is a vital part of a high-quality health service and this school will help to strengthen provision in our region. We will ensure this strong regional focus continues from recruitment through to graduation and beyond.'
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