West Suffolk Hospital

The hospital component of the training programme is based at the West Suffolk Hospital on the outskirts of Bury St. Edmunds in the west of Suffolk

The West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust provides healthcare services to a population of 280,000 contained within a district of approximately 600 square miles. On the periphery of the district lie the towns of Thetford to the north, Stowmarket to the east, Sudbury to the south, and Newmarket to the west. The district is a rural area and outside of these towns the population is thinly distributed. It is a District General Hospital built in 1974 which achieved Foundation Trust status in December 2011.

Bury St. Edmunds is a lovely cathedral and market town with a famous Abbey. It was here that the Barons confronted King John with the Magna Carta. The town has good access to London, Cambridge, the coast, and the Midlands. It is surrounded by delightful villages. It is situated in the heart of East Anglia, and is a pleasant place to live and work, providing sophisticated facilities in a traditional and unspoilt rural town setting. There is also easy access to the Midlands, London and the East Coast.

The hospital has a 24 hour Emergency Department, and a full range of Medical, Surgical and other specialties, with a total of around 450 beds. In addition there is a Day Surgery Unit and a 10 bedded Hospice. A number of Consultants have joint appointments in other trusts such as Plastic, ENT and Vascular surgeons, Neurologists and Cardiologists. The Delivery Suite and the alongside Birthing Unit deliver 2700 babies a year. The neonatal Unit caters for babies from 30 weeks. There is a wide range of radiological diagnostic facilities including CT scanning ( spiral), ultrasound, isotope imaging and MRI. It is a popular place for trainees scoring overall 4th in the region in the 2012 GMC survey. 

The Education Centre

The new Education Centre was opened in February, 2003. Near the entrance is the Clinical Resource Centre and Library, which can meet all the education and research needs of the registrars. It contains a well equipped computer room with a Facilitator who can help to explore the data resources of the internet. There is a link to the University of Cambridge Medical Library.

Also in the Education Centre is the Graduate Medical School of Cambridge University, the Department of Nursing of Suffolk College, the West Suffolk Post Graduate Medical Education Centre, as well as the General Practice Vocational Training Scheme. Seminar rooms are available to all staff of the West Suffolk Hospital and the construction of a new lecture theatre is nearing completion.

The Cambridge Graduate School

As mentioned above, the hospital is the home of the Graduate Medical School of the University of Cambridge. This means that the Hospital is highly orientated to learning and teaching. A number of the practices involved in teaching students on this course are also training practices for general practice.