Medical and healthcare sector

Business

Plymouth is well-represented within the medical and healthcare sector, with companies in the city including the following:

• BD is a worldwide leader in the design and delivery of indispensable healthcare devices, systems and services that improve the health and well-being of all people. The company manufactures and sells a broad range of products and solutions for use by healthcare institutions, life science researchers, clinical laboratories, industry, academic research institutions and the general public
• Clearlab UK Limited designs, manufactures and supplies high quality disposable contact lenses
• Dentsply Ash Instruments Limited manufactures high quality dental hand instruments
• Medlogic Global Limited is a leader in the use of tissue adhesives for closing wounds in the Accident and Emergency and Operating Room areas
• Veeda Clinical Research, born out of a merger of the well-established Phase 1 Clinical Trials Unit in Plymouth and ClinSearch Labs in India, offers a full range of services in phase I and IIa clinical research and delivers cost effective, timely research solutions to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries worldwide
• VacSax Limited manufactures disposable medical suction systems

Training

Peninsula Radiology Academy

The Department of Health chose Plymouth as one of only three places in the country for a new Radiology Academy (the other two being in Norwich and Leeds). The Peninsula Radiology Academy is both a specific educational environment for radiology trainees and a more general meeting and conferencing facility for other healthcare professionals, and contains a full complement of modern multimedia facilities, clinical simulations, library resources, and areas for peer-group work.

The building and fit-out at Plymouth International Medical and Technology Park is complete, and the Academy is now open and training increased numbers of radiology specialist registrars.

Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry

Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry encompasses Peninsula Medical School, Peninsula Dental School and Peninsula Postgraduate Health Institute.

Peninsula Medical School, founded on a unique partnership between the Universities of Exeter and Plymouth and the National Health Service within Devon and Cornwall, was established in August 2000 and commenced delivery of its Undergraduate Programme in Autumn 2002. The School has seven sites, with three in Plymouth, three in Exeter and one in Cornwall, and its head office is located at the Tamar Science Park in Plymouth. In addition to undergraduate teaching, the school delivers Postgraduate Education, including a new Masters programme, and has a strong research base focused in the Institute of Biomedical and Clinical Science, Institute of Health and Social Care and the Institute of Clinical Education.

Having established a highly successful undergraduate programme, Peninsula Medical School was selected from an intense national competition to create the Peninsula Dental School which will train 62 dentists a year and offer a joint Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) degree through the Universities of Exeter and Plymouth. The undergraduate programme will be four years, designed for science graduates or healthcare professional entry, and will start in September 2007.

Peninsula Postgraduate Health Institute provides a range of programmes based around health and social care and encompasses a wide range of research themes. Students can choose to study a one year part-time Postgraduate Certificate (PgCert), a two year Postgraduate Diploma (PgDip) or a three year Master of Science (MSc) in various subjects.

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Partnerships and organisations

Tamar Science Park

Tamar Science Park, set up as a partnership between Plymouth City Council, the University of Plymouth and Business Link, provides companies with the perfect environment, infrastructure and business support to enable them to grow and reach the market place.

The Innovation and Technology Transfer Centres at the Science Park are home to a cluster of medical-related businesses, and this strong medical bias is likely to increase in the future with the extension of healthcare facilities in the immediate area at Derriford Hospital and Plymouth International Science and Technology Park. Organisations located at the Science Park include:

• Cardio Analytics
• Diving Diseases Research Centre
• The Health Protection Agency
• K2 Medical Systems
• Peninsula Medical School

NHS Services

There are two main organisations providing NHS services in the city:

Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust, the largest Hospital Trust in the south west peninsula and one of the largest providers of acute care in the country, delivers its services from Derriford Hospital, the Royal Eye Infirmary, Mount Gould Hospital and the Child Development Centre at Scott Hospital. It employs in excess of 6,000 staff and provides the full range of acute and general hospital services to 450,000 people in Devon and Cornwall, including cancer care, orthopaedics, paediatrics, plastic and reconstructive surgery, dentistry, ear, nose and throat services, ophthalmic care, and children’s and adolescent services.

The Trust also provides a range of highly specialist treatments to a population of up to 2 million people across Devon, Cornwall and Dorset including:

• Cardiothoracic surgery and cardiology
• Neurosurgery and neurology
• Plastic surgery and burns
• Renal transplant surgery
• Some specialist cancer treatments

Derriford Hospital is set to expand considerably over the next 3 years with a £101 million investment to develop new hospital facilities in line with the Government’s NHS Plan including:

• a planned care centre comprising 350 - 400 beds, a full range of outpatient, diagnostic, acute rehabilitation and support services, together with short stay surgery facilities
• relocation of the Royal Eye Infirmary
• a new rehabilitation unit dedicated to stroke, neuro and orthopaedic rehabilitation
• an extensive new-build comprising nine floors, including a major new critical care facility, rebuild of cardiac theatres and a new library floor, together with research and teaching accommodation

The Peninsula NHS Treatment Centre opened in April 2005 and provides high quality specialist orthopaedic care for people in Devon and Cornwall as part of the Government’s independent sector treatment centre programme, designed to give NHS patients more choice about where and when they are treated, and to reduce waiting lists. It is run by an independent company on behalf of the NHS and has already gained the reputation of being one of the best performing treatment centres in the country.

Plymouth Teaching Primary Care Trust employs around 2,500 staff in over 40 locations in the city, and provides non-hospital patient care such as:

• doctors (GPs)
• health visitors
• district nurses
• public health
• Minor Injuries Unit (Devonport)
• mental health and learning disability services
• speech and language services
• therapy and rehabilitation services
• services for older people
• other family services - dentists, opticians, pharmacists

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