March 27, 2019 6.13 pm This story is over 59 months old

£21m University of Lincoln medical school given go-ahead

Green light for the landmark facility

The University of Lincoln’s £21 million medical school has been given the green light and will become the first of its kind in Lincolnshire.

Plans were submitted to City of Lincoln Council for the multi-million pound building and teaching at the school will be delivered as a partnership with the University of Nottingham.

The school will be built next to the 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.

City councillors approved the proposal at a planning committee meeting held at City Hall.

The landmark facility will help to tackle the shortage of health staff across Lincolnshire and teach the next generation of medical students.

The five storey building will 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 will 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”.

The facility 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.

Deputy vice chancellor of the University of Lincoln, Professor Andrew Hunter, described the facility as “sustainable” and said the plan would “provide a new home for a medical school”.

Professor Mary Stuart, Vice Chancellor of the University of Lincoln and Professor Andrew Hunter, Deputy Vice Chancellor at the University of Lincoln in the new clinical suites at the University. Photo: UoL

Former Mayor of Lincoln, Councillor Chris Burke, said the school will enhance the city.

“I am immensely impressed by the environmental considerations,” he said.

“It is a unique development for Lincoln and reflects the social and health needs across Lincolnshire.”

Meanwhile, Councillor Ronald Hills, said he hoped the medical school will act as a “catalyst” for healthcare in the region.

“We have seen the need for this facility over and over against for the past decade,” he said.

City councillors unanimously approved the application.

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.

Funding has been secured for an initial 80 first year undergraduate places in September 2019 with a further 80 per intake in subsequent years.

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.


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