A NEW initiative aims to use patient volunteers to help train the next generation of doctors and medical staff.

The University of Central Lancashire’s (UCLan) School of Medicine is looking for patients happy to allow students to record their medical histories or even carry out medical examinations.

The school is searching for patients who might have conditions relating to chest disease such as asthma and heart problems including Angina.

Patients with kidneys or bladder issues or conditions related to the gastrointestinal system, neurological problems such as epilepsy and diabetes, are also sought.

Volunteers would provide feedback directly to students on their performance and behaviours to they can turn the theory and knowledge they have learnt into practice.

Professor Cathy Jackson, executive dean and head of the UCLan School of Medicine, said: "By giving us just a few hours a month members of the public can make a major difference.

"Our students learn the theory and knowledge that underpins their professional role in the classroom, but putting their knowledge into practice is an entirely different proposition.

“More than 80 per cent of the diagnosis procedure is based on listening to the patient so our student doctors really must have excellent communication, patient care and decision making skills.

This is something they can only learn by working with real patients.

"We’d like our volunteers to provide feedback directly to students on their performance and behaviours.

“We’ve listed a number of areas where we’re looking for patient volunteers with specific conditions but we’re open to enquiries from patients with any disorder who would be interested in helping to train our doctors of the future, many of whom will work in Lancashire and Cumbria.”

Volunteers can attend sessions just once or twice a year or they can choose to be more active participants.

The next volunteer patient open event will take place on Thursday, April 19 between 2pm and 5pm at the UCLan Burnley Campus School of Medicine.

The university will pay travel expenses for patients.

It said it is happy to receive applications from those living across the North West.

Anyone interested in becoming a patient volunteer with the University of Central Lancashire’s School of Medicine should email: MedVolunteerPatient@uclan.ac.uk or call 01772 895939.

The initiative comes after UCLan partnered with East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust and North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust from September last year to offer scholarships for its medicine degree, aimed specifically at students based in the East Lancashire and Cumbria regions.

The School of Medicine offers a range of other clinical programmes including an integrated Masters of Physician Associate Studies to produce physician associates.

It also offers a number of postgraduate and professional programmes, aimed at helping practitioners develop specialist skills and knowledge.