A new pathology hub has opened at Bournemouth Hospital to provide vital services for the local community.
The £24 million facility provides state-of-the-art medical diagnostics technology to support patient care across the region.
The hub will be a benefit to Bournemouth University students, who will undertake placements using the facility, while staff will benefit through the official partnership between BU and University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust (UHD). The official opening of the hub was attended by BU staff and students, with BU’s Chancellor Dr Kate Adie CBE, DL unveiling the official plaque.UHD actively supports BU’s health and biomedical science courses, with UHD staff regularly visiting to deliver education to students, while staff work closely together to conduct research.
Dr Anna Mantzouratou, Programme Leader of BU’s Biomedical Sciences degree and Principal Academic in Human Genetics, said, “The new Pathology Hub is an amazing space. The equipment is brand new and there is a lot of high tech, high throughput machines in there to help the local area.
“The partnership between University Hospitals Dorset (UHD) and Bournemouth University (BU) is vital. The hospital needs trained scientists and the university trains scientists. Our students can also take part in placements at the hospital and get the important experience they need to progress in their career. We have also had many of our graduates been offered jobs at the hospital, so it’s a very mutual experience for our students and staff at the hospital.”
Biomedical Sciences student Berfin Demirtas represented BU students at the official opening. She said, “The new facilities and processes that go on here have been great to see. We saw where the tissue samples and pathology happen as well as haematology, immunology and all the vital parts of pathology. I think it will be a great experience for students to come here for their work experience, or even to work here after their degrees.”
The project was backed by Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and opened in November 2023 and delivers over 9 million tests per year.
For more information about the partnership between BU and UHD, visit BU's partnership pages.
For more information about studying biomedical sciences at BU, visit the course pages of the BU website.
