Centre for nursing and midwifery training to open in Bradford

The University of Bolton will be opening the Satellite Centre at Lister Mill in late June.

The new teaching centre features two simulation suites and a community simulation suite designed to replicate a flat.

It will be used for its nursing and midwifery programmes.

Inside the new learning centre for nursing and midwifery at Lister Mill (Image: University of Bolton)

The Lancashire university is partnered with Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Airedale NHS Foundation Trust and Mid-Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust.

When Lister Mill was completed in 1873, it was the largest textile mill in the north of England. 

Its imposing shape and the 249ft tall chimney remain a dominant feature of the Bradford skyline.

Students in Bradford will be able to train up as nursing associates (Image: University of Bradford)

Now part of the mill building will help nurture the next generation of nurses and kickstart a new two-year apprenticeship for aspiring nursing associates.

Nursing associates work across all four fields of nursing, including adult, children’s, mental health, and learning disabilities. 

Skills and responsibilities will vary and depend on the care setting people work in.

Parts of the job range anywhere from performing clinical observations - such as a patient’s blood pressure, temperature, or pulse - to helping people deal with unwelcome news or life-changing diagnoses.

The Satellite Centre is opening at Lister Mill (Image: University of Bolton)

According to the NHS website, applicants for nursing associate training requires maths and English GCSE between grade 9 to 4 (A to C), or a Functional Skills Level 2 in maths and English. 

Some employers may ask for a level 3 qualification.

Danielle Ellis, Senior Lecturer in Adult Nursing, Faculty of Health and Wellbeing at the University of Bolton, said: “Our students are at the heart of our nursing centre and have their own dedicated ‘Recharge Room’, with kitchen and canteen-like facilities.

“There are dedicated quiet study areas for those who want to stay on campus outside of lectures and maximise their learning opportunities. We are very excited to welcome our nursing students here to such a fantastic new facility.”

Listers Mill and Lilycroft Road at the height of Bradford's success with textiles (Image: Paul Jennings)

The university also offers a three-year BSc Adult Nursing degree and an 18-month BSc Adult Nursing top-up route to nursing (for those who are already a nursing associate). 

Students who want to work and study at the same time will soon be able to apply for a direct entry FdSc Nursing Associate route.

The development at Lister Mill has undergone extensive renovation and will provide a dedicated learning centre for student nurses and nursing associates based in the Bradford area.

The Mayor of Bolton, Cllr Andy Morgan, will officially open the building on June 25.