University Hospitals Dorset and Bournemouth University celebrate a successful first year of partnership

University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust (UHD) and Bournemouth University (BU) are celebrating a full year of partnership activity.

UHD gained university status as a part of the merger of Poole Hospital and The Royal Bournemouth & Christchurch Hospitals Foundation Trusts on 1 October 2020. The existing partnership between the former organisations and BU was formalised via a joint Memorandum of Understanding. 

The BU-UHD partnership aims to develop a culture of innovation, research and education across the workforce and raise the profile of opportunities across Bournemouth University and University Hospitals Dorset.

Despite the challenges of a global pandemic, year one of the BU-UHD Partnership programme has supported the formation of many new collaborative relationships and raised the profile of opportunities that our new partnership brings across BU and UHD.

The first participants have been scanned in the university’s Dorset LEP-funded MRI scanner, within the Institute of Medical Imaging and Visualisation, while researchers have also supported UHD’s transformation team with insight  into evidence-based bed layouts. BU’s Orthopaedic Research Institute is now embedded in UHD, supporting patient care and helping to prevent and lessen hip pain in patients.

The partnership has supported students into placement opportunities, with joint staffing appointments across the two organisations. Members of UHD staff have been supporting teaching at the university. These opportunities are already attracting new talent to the area.

Dr Ruth Williamson, Chair of the BU-UHD Steering Committee and Deputy Chief Medical Officer, said, “Our collaboration will continue to develop a range of training programmes, student placements and joint research proposals that support future service delivery.

“Our ongoing work is to share how as local anchor institutions, we are developing local people for local jobs to support our communities.  We very much look forward to building on the work undertaken in 2020/21 to deliver more benefits in the coming year.”

Professor John Vinney, Vice-Chancellor of Bournemouth University, said, “We are delighted to be working so closely with our local healthcare partners, to work for the benefit of patients, staff, students and the local community in delivering integrated care and supporting healthcare through research, while our students are getting hands-on experience for lifelong careers in healthcare.”

Read more on our BU-UHD partnership on the Bournemouth University website or watch the video.