Councillors give green light to major healthcare education campus

Sandwell Council has approved plans for an educational campus next to the Midland Metropolitan University Hospital (MMUH) being developed in Smethwick, able to teach 1,280 students.Bought together by Sandwell Council, The Learning Works, Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust, Sandwell College, University of Wolverhampton and Aston University, the Midland Met Learning Campus project will be a major new skills resource providing training in healthcare and healthcare-related positions from entry-level to level 7 skills and will create more than 130 jobs.£18.6m will be invested into the Midland Met Learning Campus project, with £12.9m coming from the Towns Fund and £5.7m in additional funding from a number of sources including the SWB NHS Trust.Being located next to the MMUH will enable the NHS’ Learning Works to offer opportunities for higher-quality education provision that could not occur at each partner’s respective alternative locations.The new building will bring together multiple facilities, providing a single centre for the community and promoting access to training, development, and employment opportunities within the NHS, particularly in additional clinical services, allied health professionals, nursing and midwifery.The appointment of a construction contractor is expected shortly, with work set to start in early 2024.£988m MMUH was scheduled to open this spring, already six years behind schedule, with work on the Smethwick site being hampered by the collapse of construction firm Carillion in 2018 and the Covid-19 pandemic.Its opening has been delayed again, until next autumn.