School of Health and Care Professions
Explore the teaching and research activities taking place within our School of Health and Care Professions
The School of Health and Care Professions offers exceptional health and social care education to meet the current and future needs of the health and social care sectors.
The population of the United Kingdom will hit 74 million by 2039 (Office for National Statistics), so it's essential to develop a larger caring workforce – of doctors, social workers, paramedics, dental nurses, mental health nurses, radiographers, biomedical scientists and pharmacists.
Our adult nursing course was the first in the UK to win accreditation from the Association of Simulated Practice in Healthcare (ASPiH) for our simulation-based education. Students will make use of the technology and techniques that allowed our course to gain prestigious acknowledgement.
Teaching
Our undergraduate and postgraduate degrees cover all major aspects of healthcare, and provide an educational platform that bridges the gap between science and application – so our students graduate with the skills required to succeed, and an understanding of how to use them.
We follow the core values of the NHS and offer professional doctorates in a range of health and social care disciplines – many of which are endorsed by Skills For Care, a national organisation for workforce development in social care.
We also offer courses that make our students eligible for registration with other professional bodies – such as the Health Care Professions – and we've received funding from the Health Education England, Newton Foundation, Medical Research Council and the largest national clinical research funder in Europe, The National Institute for Health Research.
Our teaching areas
To see all the undergraduate and postgraduate degrees we offer, visit our healthcare and social care subject area page. We also offer short courses and continuing professional development courses that cover all aspects of the health and social care.
Facilities
Our undergraduate and postgraduate students use our Centre for Simulation in Health and Care (CSH&C) facility to develop their diagnostic, clinical assessment, clinical decision-making and leadership skills through practical experience and guidance.
We're also home to a realistic operating theatre with human patient simulators, a clinical skills laboratory, a digital x-ray suite and a dedicated ultrasound room.
Dr Jason Oakley – School of Health and Care Professions – University of Portsmouth
Dr Jason Oakley, Head of the School of Health and Care Professions at the University of Portsmouth, describes the variety of courses on offer within the school, as well as the teaching, facilities, technology and placement opportunities available to students.
Dr Jason Oakley: My name is Jason Oakley and I'm the Head of School of the School of Health and Care Professions.
The School of Health and Care Professions is a school that encompasses a really wide range of professions that work both in the health and the social sector. So, for example, we train paramedics, nurses and both in adult mental health. We train radiographers, we have operating department practitioners and we have Physician Associates, as well as social workers. So we really do cover a really wide range of professional groups that will contribute both to health and social care.
A really fundamental part of these courses is the staff on them, in the main, are practitioners themselves. So these are people that have the same qualifications. They've been there, they've worked in the hospitals, and some will still do. They're there to support the students, both in their academic time here at the university, and that will be through pastoral support as well as academic support but also they're there to support them when they go into placement. So the actual staff are a really fundamental part of the experience for our students.
At the University of Portsmouth, we have all the normal facilities you'd expect from a university but we also have some of the most fantastic, what we call, simulation facilities. So these are areas which try to simulate what it will be like when you actually are there in a hospital. So we have ward areas, we have an operating theatre, we have an X-ray room. We have flats where you can just experience what it's like to be in somebody else's home. So we have a really wide range of facilities that allow us to actually give you an experience of what it's like.
But within some of those areas, we actually also have a lot of technology and that technology is there to make it seem very, very real. The training of our students during this time is just so important because they are the workforce of the future. It's about immersing you in all that simulated reality before you actually go out into work with real patients and real service users.
All of our courses will come with placement opportunities. They're absolutely essential. They're how you fill the requirements of the professional regulators but also how you begin to build up your experience, build up your knowledge over the period of your course to be able to give the best care, the best service to the patients and the service users that we work with.
Like most of the staff I'm actually from an NHS background myself and I'm a radiographer by profession. It makes me so proud to be part of the team that are training the workforce of the future. That's our students going through their training and getting ready to go out and become the carers of the future, working in both health and social care. So for me, this is just a fantastic job to do and it's reflected by the fantastic students that we have that then go on to work in these careers.
Research
Our research was submitted to the Research Excellence Framework 2021 (REF 2021) in Unit of Assessment 3 (Allied Health Professions, Dentistry, Nursing and Pharmacy). 90% of this research rated as world-leading or internationally excellent in terms of originality, significance and rigour and 100% of the Impact Case Studies were rated as very considerable in terms of their reach and significance.
Explore the research we're doing across the 3 areas of expertise within our Health and Care Professions research – including our most recent projects, funders and more.
Our research centres
Much of our exceptional research takes place within the following cross-disciplinary research centres – find out more below.
Global Health, Population and Policy Research Group
We're carrying out research that promotes population health while achieving health related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Our staff
Explore our faculty
Explore the other Schools and Departments that make up our Faculty of Science and Health.
School of Biological Sciences
In the School of Biological Sciences, we're addressing the most pressing issues impacting people's quality of life around the world.
Dental Academy
The Dental Academy is a modern, primary-care based school that trains General Dental Council-registered and qualified dental care professionals, and offers comprehensive oral and dental healthcare to the public.
School of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences
Through our teaching and research, the School of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences strives to find new ways to help those with debilitating illnesses and diseases.
School of Sport, Health and Exercise Science
We study the physiology, psychology and biomechanics of the human body during exercise and its application to sports performance and health.
Department of Psychology
Explore the Department of Psychology at the University of Portsmouth, and learn more about the teaching and research activities happening within the department.
Faculty of Science and Health
Explore the Faculty of Science and Health at the University of Portsmouth, and learn more about the teaching and research activities that take place within the Faculty's different departments and schools.
Contact us
To get in touch, please contact our Faculty office.
