Lincolnshire’s hospitals have today been granted £1.8 million in capital funding by the Department of Health and Social Care to develop medical education facilities, in support of the new Lincoln Medical School.
The money, which has been awarded to United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust (ULHT), will be used to develop new medical education facilities at Lincoln County Hospital and enhance the existing medical education centre at Boston Pilgrim Hospital.
This will be used for the provision of education to medical students and support staff and educating clinicians to use for teaching, preparation and study purposes.
It will support the development of the Lincoln Medical School, being developed by the University of Nottingham and University of Lincoln. The new facilities will deliver increased teaching capacity, which in turn will help the development of improved recruitment of medical staff to Lincolnshire.
Chief Executive of ULHT, Jan Sobieraj, said: “We are really pleased that the Trust’s growing status as a teaching centre has been recognised in this way.
“This funding will enable us to take forward plans for undergraduate local training in conjunction with the Lincoln Medical School.
“This is another step forward within the Trust’s 2021 strategy for improvement and development.”
Professor Danny McLaughlin, Associate Dean of Lincoln Medical School, said: “This is great news for Lincoln Medical School and shows the strength of the partnership between the universities and the local health trusts.
“The education centres at Lincoln County Hospital and Pilgrim Hospital, Boston will provide excellent modern facilities for undergraduate medical students on clinical placements and junior doctors to learn alongside clinicians delivering frontline care.
“Evidence shows that medical students tend to stay in the areas in which they train so having such facilities available in our local hospitals is an important element in meeting the future skills needs of the NHS in Lincolnshire.”
Postgraduate Dean from Health Education England (East Midlands) Dr Adrian Brooke said: “We are delighted to hear of the successful bid by ULHT for capital funding to build a multi-purpose education centre to support the Lincoln Medical School. We see this development as a vital component in the establishment of the clinical learning environments that are central to the success of the new medical school in Lincoln.
“The provision of this environment will help equip Lincoln’s new medical students and other health professionals with the skills and capabilities to provide excellent high-quality healthcare for the population of Lincolnshire into the future.
“We will continue to work with the Trust and its partners across the health and social care services to support the provision of excellent learning and education environments for our current and future workforce.”