£21m Lincoln Medical School set for final approval

A new £21 million university facility in Lincoln which would help teach the next generation of medical students looks set to get the green light.

Plans for multi-million five storey building have been submitted by the University of Lincoln and were hailed as a step forward for medical education and recruitment in the region.

If approved, the building would be created next to existing science laboratories, the Janet Lane-Claypon Building, and opposite the University’s Isaac Newton Building on the southern edge of the main Brayford Pool Campus.

The proposals, which were revealed last March, would be the first of their kind in the region.

Designs: UoL

Now, City of Lincoln Council’s planning committee have been recommended to give final approval at a meeting on March 27.

The five storey building would include:

• Ground floor – Two 120 capacity lecture theatres, seminar space, cafe and social learning space.
• First floor – Library, science laboratory and project laboratory
• Second floor – departmental office space, tutorial spaces and an external roof terrace
• Third floor – Empty space to allow for future expansion
• Fourth floor – Anatomy suite and clinical skills suite
• Fifth floor –  Void space above the double height plant floor

A roof terrace is also proposed for the building where students would be able to gather, as well as hold university events.

Designs: UoL

The university has set an aim for the building to be “low carbon” and sustainable.

The building has been designed to meet the BREEAM Excellent environmental standard and features photovoltaic panels generating electricity for its laboratories, as part of the aspiration to be a carbon neutral scheme.

Professor Mary Stuart is the Vice Chancellor of the University of Lincoln

University of Lincoln Vice Chancellor Mary Stuart said the school would be an “exciting step forward” for the region.

“It represents more than just a building – it is a commitment to current and future communities in Lincolnshire to develop sustainable healthcare for the region,” she said.

“Soon we will be training our own doctors right here in the heart of Lincoln, creating more opportunities for local young people to aspire to a medical career, providing new routes for experienced clinicians to develop their teaching and research practice, and increasing the likelihood that newly-trained doctors will remain in the region once they qualify.”

Site location for the proposed medical school.

The University of Lincoln and University of Nottingham confirmed in March 2018 they had been successful in their joint bid to establish a new medical school for Lincolnshire.

It followed an announcement in 2017 by the Government of an additional 1,500 medical school training places across England to ease staffing shortages in the NHS.

As the second largest county in England, Lincolnshire has particular healthcare challenges with its rural geography and ageing population and has traditionally struggled to recruit and retain doctors and other healthcare professionals.

SUBSCRIBE TO LOCAL DEMOCRACY WEEKLY, our exclusive email newsletter with highlights from our coverage every week and insights and analysis from our local democracy reporters.