Health impact

From the lecture theatre to the operating theatre, from delivering babies to saving lives, we are bringing world-class expertise to your local hospital.

From the lecture theatre to the NHS frontline

At Keele, our healthcare academics don’t just prepare students for working in the NHS of tomorrow. With over 200 of our colleagues also working clinically in the NHS, some quite literally go from the lecture theatre to the operating theatre. From delivering babies to saving lives, the wealth of expertise at Keele has a positive impact not just on our students, but also on local people on a daily basis.

Professor Pensée Wu

When Professor Pensée Wu isn’t teaching the next generation of medical students at Keele, she’s busy bringing babies into the world. Alongside her job as a senior lecturer and researcher at the University, Pensée is also a senior doctor at Royal Stoke University Hospital where she has delivered more than 500 babies and counting – including performing emergency caesareans. From the lecture theatre to the operating theatre, Pensée is making a positive impact not just on the lives of students but new mothers, babies and their families across Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-under-Lyme.

Video transcript

Kevin Armstrong

As a paramedic, Kevin Armstrong is often one of the first to arrive on the scene when patients across Staffordshire, Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-under-Lyme need help. It’s a fast-paced and vital role which involves making life-saving decisions in emergency situations. But it’s not Kevin’s only job. When he’s not on the frontline with West Midlands Ambulance Service where he has attended almost 10,000 incidents, Kevin is the Director of Paramedic Sciences at Keele, where he brings real-world experience into the design and delivery of paramedic science programmes and the classroom – passing on his knowledge to the next generation of paramedics.

Video transcript

Professor Jo Protheroe

Professor Jo Protheroe has been a GP for more than 20 years. When she's not looking after and supporting patients in Newcastle-under-Lyme, she's Keele’s Director of General Practice Education, leading the team responsible for student placements in over 100 GP surgeries in Staffordshire and Shropshire, and delivering course content for the University’s medical students. A nationally and internationally recognised expert in the field of health literacy, Jo brings two decades' worth of experience to course content and the lecture theatre, giving Keele’s students the experiences and emotions of being a GP in the real-world and the skills they need to work in the NHS of the future.

Video transcript

Shaping healthcare across the UK

Our partners | Working closely with NHS organisations

University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust (UHNM)

UHNM logo

The partnership between Keele University and University Hospitals of North Midlands (UHNM) plays a vital role in developing the highly skilled healthcare professionals needed by local and national health services. Through the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Keele’s four Schools deliver high-quality education and training in Medicine, Nursing and Midwifery, Pharmacy, and Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation, combining academic excellence with hands-on clinical experience through close collaboration with UHNM.

The University and UHNM also have a strong track record of successful research collaboration. Recent investment, including the creation of a third health-related research institute and the appointment of new clinical professors, reflects a shared commitment to expanding world-leading research in regenerative medicine and primary and secondary care, improving local health and wellbeing, and strengthening links with the commercial sector.

The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH)

shrewsbury-400px

The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH), which runs the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and Princess Royal Hospital in Telford, was granted University Trust status in 2025 following a successful joint bid with Keele. Both organisations have strong foundations in continuous improvement and research, collaborative working and a commitment to life-long learning and education.

The Trust currently has more than 50 research studies being carried out, with thousands of patients having taken part in these trials every year. These studies are helping to shape the future of healthcare locally, nationally and potentially worldwide. The collaboration with Keele strengthens research, clinical education, and training for medical students, nurses, and allied health professionals to improve care in Shropshire.

Midlands Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (MPFT)

midlands-partnership-uni

Keele University and MPFT have a joint research strategy and work collaboratively and closely across a wide range of Trust activities, including research, training and education. This close and cross-fertilising relationship has a number of joint clinical/academic posts now being supported and a variety of successful grant and project applications being undertaken across the organisations. This includes joint work between MPFT's rheumatology clinicians and Keele University's Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences to improve the understanding and management of common musculoskeletal conditions and chronic pain.

In the field of mental health, the partnership between MPFT and Keele University has conducted research on themes such as the physical health of people with severe mental illness, dementia, and perinatal mental health (mental health conditions which occur during pregnancy or in the first year following the birth of a child).