Work starts ahead of new nursing college for King's Lynn
Demolition work has begun
Last updated 15th Mar 2021
King's Lynn has taken a step closer to getting a new School of Nursing Studies.
It's being funded by £597,000 from the Town Deal Board and work has started today (15 March) to get ready for it to be built.
The print room building at the College of West Anglia is being demolished.
David Pomfret, Principal/Chief Executive of the College of West Anglia, said:
"The School of Nursing creates a fantastic opportunity for west Norfolk. The Coronavirus has caused a massive global recession, however, health and social care is one of the very few sectors which is set to grow.
"This project, a partnership between the College of West Anglia, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and the Borough Council of King's Lynn & West Norfolk, will create local career and skills development opportunities. Nursing is an incredibly important and rewarding career. This project will mean that the very best of talent can stay local, improve the stability and quality of the QEH workforce and support the west Norfolk economy as well as the wellbeing of west Norfolk communities."
The project will include the provision of two high-quality teaching spaces, refurbished into a hospital ward with two beds and equipment, to give students with near real-world experience of a clinical setting, and a simulator suite with two beds and clinical simulator dummies to present students with challenging situations. Scenarios from the simulator suite will be broadcast into larger class rooms so that a larger body of students can learn from the experience.
Dr April Brown, Chief Nurse at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital King's Lynn NHS Foundation Trust, said:
"We are absolutely delighted that funding has been secured for the West Norfolk School of Nursing.
"Once in place, this course will open up career opportunities for local people who perhaps never thought that there would be a chance to study nursing in West Norfolk, closer to home.
"The capital part of this project will be completed within the funding timescales, with the accreditation work taking place in order for the School of Nursing to receive their first cohort of students in September 2021."
Graham Purkins, Chair of the Town Deal Board, added:
"The healthcare sector is one of the largest employers in west Norfolk. This project will provide opportunities for local people to access nursing training and employment in King's Lynn instead of them having to travel to Norwich or Cambridge. This increase in access to skills facilities will enable us to grow our own employees for the healthcare sector rather than having to recruit from overseas. It also establishes a model of closer collaboration with local employers to ensure employees have the skills they need."