Inside Bolton’s new £40m College of Medical Sciences

A closer look at what the learning facility will offer

Bolton College of Medical Sciences is expected to welcome its first cohort of students in
September 2024. Being built on the grounds of the Bolton NHS Foundation Trust’s site, the
project will radically reinvent how nurses and other clinical care professionals are trained in
the UK.
BCMS is a unique and collaborative partnership between the University of Bolton, Bolton
NHS Foundation Trust, Bolton College and Bolton Council.
Once complete, the £40m facility will deliver training to approximately 3000 learners per
year, and will be capable of teaching up to 950 students at any one time.
In addition to training aspiring clinical care professionals from aged 16+, education provision
also extends to existing NHS staff who will be able to undertake CPD training on site. A
number of dedicated classrooms in BCMS have been developed exclusively for this
purpose.
The building will be home to six simulation suites, with each able to accommodate 30
students at once. These simulation suites will replicate different types of hospital ward with
industry-grade equipment, creating a highly accurate hospital setting in a simulated and
controlled environment.
A state-of-the-art 4D room will take this immersive and interactive learning experience
further, using projectors, sounds, lighting and smells to generate realistic scenarios – such
as a road traffic accident – in a controlled manner.
Two “high-fidelity” suites have been specifically designed for conducting controlled
assessments of clinical practice. These suites will feature advanced adult and infant
mannequins that accurately replicate human physiology and which can be programmed to
create life-like medical scenarios, enabling students to be observed and assessed in their
delivery of clinical care.
One of these suites has also been designed to easily transform into an operating theatre –
catering for BCMS’ wide range of end users.
In addition to these high-fidelity suites, there will also be a community simulation suite. This
room will create a home-like environment, simulating the types of issues that clinicians deal
with when providing care in a non-hospital setting.
The BCMS design team has worked extensively alongside senior clinicians at Bolton NHS
Foundation Trust, ensuring the layout and equipment create an accurate and highly tuned
environment that will prepare future clinicians for the scenarios they will face.
Professor George Holmes DL, President and Vice Chancellor of the University of Bolton
adds: “We want to attract the best talent from around the country to come and learn at
BCMS, and by having such an incredible range of high-tech equipment, we’re firm in our
commitment to becoming a national centre of excellence for healthcare education.”