A £1.6 million health and social care training academy has been opened in Powys – the first of several earmarked for the county.

The new facility was officially opened by Welsh Health and Social Services Minister Eluned Morgan.

It is hoped the new facility will help improve access to health and social care training in the county and encourage more people to take up a career in the sector.

The work has been completed with the support of £1.1 million in capital grants from the Welsh Government’s Integrated Care Fund and around £500,000 in further funding provided by members of the Powys Regional Partnership Board.

MORE NEWS

The board is made up of a range of public bodies and other agencies, including Powys County Council, Powys Teaching Health Board and Powys Association of Voluntary Organisations (PAVO), who are working together to improve the health and wellbeing of the county’s residents.

The campus at Bronllys Community Hospital is the first of several sites that the board plans to develop as part of its Workforce Futures programme – including another main site, or hub site, on the planned North Powys Wellbeing Campus, in the centre of Newtown.

County Times: Post 16 learners from Ysgol Llanfyllin and Crickhowell High School learning new practical skills at Powys Health and Care Academy’s new Bronllys Campus, with tutor Julia Williams, as part of their Health and Social Care studies.Post 16 learners from Ysgol Llanfyllin and Crickhowell High School learning new practical skills at Powys Health and Care Academy’s new Bronllys Campus, with tutor Julia Williams, as part of their Health and Social Care studies.

The new Bronllys Campus includes a training centre in the refurbished Basil Webb Hall, a new outdoor learning space, and an adaptive living space in the refurbished Magpies bungalow, which will be used to provide simulated learning in a community setting.

Health and Social Services Minister Eluned Morgan MS said: “I was pleased to see some of the innovative work that is taking place in Powys to improve the skills of the county’s health and social care workforce, thanks to our support through the integrated care fund.

“I am looking forward to seeing how the learners I met today progress in careers which will see them looking after people with great dedication, in their times of need, for many years to come."

County Times: Health and Social Services Minister Eluned Morgan MS meets unpaid carers from Powys who have been learning mindfulness techniques to improve their mental health and wellbeing through Powys Health and Care Academy’s Balance Programme.Health and Social Services Minister Eluned Morgan MS meets unpaid carers from Powys who have been learning mindfulness techniques to improve their mental health and wellbeing through Powys Health and Care Academy’s Balance Programme.

Carl Cooper, chair of Powys RPB and chief executive of PAVO, welcomed the Minister and said: “Our ambition is for the academy to support the health and social care sector to become one of the top choices for those entering or returning to employment in the county, and for it to become an exemplar provider of rural professional and clinical education through both face-to-face simulated learning and virtual lessons.

“The academy will also support the development of our leaders and the workforce, including volunteers and unpaid carers, to deliver top class and innovative models of care to our citizens in a timely and effective way.”