Essex University is preparing a bid to ensure Colchester is first in the queue if the Government decides a new medical school is needed in Britain.
Senior academics have held high-level talks with health Trust bosses over plans that could see Colchester General Hospital become a prestigious university hospital.
It is down to the Department of Health to decide if more medical courses are needed to meet demand from students.
But a university spokesman said: "We want to be in a position to establish medical education if opportunities arise."
A spokesman for Essex Rivers Healthcare NHS Trust said: "There is no doubt a medical school would be an asset, not just to the borough but to the surrounding areas."
A spokesman from the Department of Health said: "There are no plans for further increases at present. If a decision is made to pursue an increase in places, we envisage that a full and open bidding process would be instituted similar to that undertaken between 1999 and 2001."
Published Tuesday, February 1, 2005
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