The Western Health and Social Care Trust (Western Trust) recently welcomed Mr Declan J. Magee, President of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) to officially unveil a plaque recognising the South West Acute Hospital as an undergraduate teaching centre of excellence.

The South West Acute Hospital in Enniskillen is the only hospital in Northern Ireland to offer consultant led teaching with medical student placements from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Since 2012, students from both Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) have been accessing undergraduate medical education in the state-of-the art South West Acute Hospital, under the guidance of a dedicated team of medical Consultants within the Western Trust. 

Welcoming Mr Magee to the South West Acute Hospital, Western Trust Chief Executive Elaine Way, CBE, said: “We are delighted to welcome Mr Magee, RCSI President to officially recognise medical teaching excellence at the South West Acute Hospital. We are immensely proud of our Clinical Leads in Medicine, Surgery and Paediatrics involved in delivering medical education and this is a wonderful event to recognise the quality of teaching in the Hospital which celebrates its third year of opening later this month.” 

Way added: “The Western Trust and the students are indebted to all of the consultants who freely give their time to enrich the student experience and provide ward based teaching. This is real medical education in action and shows we have a body of doctors who care passionately about high quality healthcare and about the future of their profession.” 

Mr Declan J. Magee, RCSI President said: “I am delighted to be back in my home County to acknowledge and celebrate this cross border educational collaboration. RCSI is committed to providing high quality learning opportunities for our students to receive their clinical training and I believe it is invaluable for our students to experience a different healthcare system to the one in which they receive the majority of their training.”

Mr Mark Grannell, Western Trust Consultant Surgeon and Lead Clinician at the South West Acute Hospital said: “We are privileged to have the support of RCSI and our clinical teachers, medical, nursing and administrative staff who have helped to create a wonderful learning environment by passionately engaging with RCSI students and passing on their experience and knowledge. We look forward to welcoming back many of our past students to working in the Western Trust in the near future. The feedback from students that have undertaken placements in the South West Acute Hospital has been outstanding and highlights the emphasis the hospital and staff place on teaching to create a rich learning experience for students.” 

The plaque was unveiled on the occasion of an academic meeting of RCSI and the South West Acute Hospital which featured curriculum developments presented by Prof. Arnie Hill, Dr Ann Hopkins and Prof Leonie Young. Mark Grannell presented updates in clinical teaching on behalf of the South West Acute Hospital. Joe Lusby gave a tour of the hospital to the attendees which included RCSI President Mr Declan J. Magee, Vice-President Prof. John Hyland, Mr Eunan Friel, Managing Director, Department of Surgical Affairs, Mr Paul Nolan, Associate Director for International Programmes, Prof. Sean Tierney, Dean of Professional Development and Practice Ms Deborah McNamara, Council Member, Mr Joe O Beirne, Council Members and Regional Fellows and Members.

The visiting party then departed to the Lough Erne Resort for the Regional Fellows and Members Meeting.