WORK is under way on Essex’s first undergraduate School of Medicine, which will train the county’s doctors of the future.

The new centre will be built at Anglia Ruskin University, Chelmsford.

Clare Panniker, Chief Executive of Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust, Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Southend University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, attended a ceremony at Anglia Ruskin Universi - ty to cut the first piece of turf to mark the beginning of construction.

The £20million building on Anglia Ruskin’s Chelmsford campus will feature state-of-the-art skills facili - ties, specialist teaching space, lecture theatre, and an anatomy suite.

It is hoped that at least 50 per cent of the students studying at the new facility will be from the East of Eng - land.

The national workforce Minimum Data Set for General Practice shows Essex is suffering medical workforce shortages across primary care, men - tal health and acute care.

The Mid and South Essex area has the highest percentage of GPs aged over 54 in the country, and the second highest patients-per-GP ratio in the country.

Professor Iain Martin, Vice Chancellor of Anglia Ruskin University, said: “Today is a very significant step towards us helping address the urgent need for more doctors and healthcare professionals in the UK, and specifi - cally in Essex.

“We have worked closely with a broad range of partners across the region in planning for the School of Medicine and, whilst there is still much to do, we are now one step clos - er to our goal.”

Clare Panniker said: “This is a very exciting time to be involved in the de - velopment of a medical school with Anglia Ruskin and I am delighted we can play a part in securing the future of health provision across Essex.

“We look forward to offering a number of clinical placements across our hospitals in mid and south Essex and know students will receive a very warm welcome.”

The work will be carried out by Willmott Dixon Construction Ltd, who will be keeping local residents informed of progress with a regular newsletter. Planning permission for the School of Medicine was granted by Chelmsford City Council earlier this year.

The new School of Medicine is on track for approval of the medical education programme by the General Medical Council and is waiting on the Government’s allocation of the addi - tional public funded places for medical students.

The university unveiled the plans in October 2016.

Dr Ruth Jackson, the university’s pro vice chancellor for the School of Medicine Development welcomed the news.

She said: “Essex has a distressed health economy with a shortage of professionals and many of those set to retire in the near future.

“The county has few undergraduate students who live and train here, and that is what we want to change.”

“The development of an Essex- based medical school is widely viewed by stakeholders as part of the solution to the ongoing issues faced by the region.

“We have worked closely with a broad range of partners across the regional health economy for the past two years in planning the School of Medicine, including NHS Trusts, primary care providers, local authorities and charities.”