Brighton joins UK day of celebration for frontline care workers

The date for NHS Frontline Day marks the foundation of the NHS on 5 July 1948, and Brighton is celebrating its role in training thousands of graduates to enter frontline care sectors, alongside vital research advances. In 2019-20, the University of Brighton provided around 700 graduates in nursing, midwifery and pharmacy, plus over 600 students qualified to enter teaching and social work.

Brighton has also developed innovative apprenticeship programmes with NHS employers to increase routes into work-based training and education for students from a more diverse background.

One well-being partnership commended by professional and regulatory bodies for excellent innovative practice is Time for Dementia. This project connects pre-registration nursing and physiotherapy students with local families where someone is living with dementia, allowing students to gain invaluable experience in communication and understanding of the condition before they encounter someone with dementia in an emergency or clinical setting.

The university also jointly manages Brighton and Sussex Medical School in partnership with the University of Sussex, with the school recently ranked the top UK institution under 50 years old in the 2021 Times Higher Education Young University World Rankings.

The university also has a strong connection with the healthcare sector through its Vice-Chancellor, Professor Debra Humphris, who spent 20 years working in the NHS, and in 2018 was made a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians for her significant contributions to the education and development of health professions.

Professor Humphris said: “I am very proud of the important role the University of Brighton plays through our graduates in frontline sectors, and the part they have played during the pandemic – and will continue to play as part of our recovery by contributing every day to improving the lives of so many.”