New medical school at Cork University Hospital gets approval

The three-storey 3,200 sq m facility will occupy an existing open space on the western side of the CUH campus. Picture: Dan Linehan

A NEW clinical medical school to support the teaching of medical students on Cork University Hospital (CUH) campus has been given the go-ahead by planners.

The three-storey 3,200 sq m facility will occupy an existing open space on the western side of the campus, adjacent to the dental hospital, which will move to UCC’s sports grounds in Curraheen. 

The height of the new building is “limited by the design slope of the proposed helipad”, according to Avanti Architects who prepared a report to support the planning application.

The new school has been mooted since 2006 and the case for a new facility was strengthened following a formal HSE audit of teaching space at CUH in 2015.

The report identified a series of deficiencies, including the range and size of teaching spaces, classrooms, educational IT infrastructure, and limited library facilities.

Avanti Architects said the new development would be a “ modern, purpose-built" educational facility and would "present the opportunity to address the significant shortfalls in current education and support facilities for undergraduate medical students at CUH”.

The report says CUH is “the major clinical teaching site for UCC School of Medicine” and that “at any one time, between 170-200 clinical medical students are on full-time clinical placement with consultants and services based at CUH”.

Moreover, the College of Medicine and Health has more than 3,000 undergraduates and 800 postgraduates “who also rely on placement and facilities at the CUH site”.

The new medical school is one of four key developments underpinning UCC’s “grand plan” for medicine and health in the region. 

The other three elements include 

• An 8,500 sq m Cork university dental hospital and school in Curraheen, granted planning permission in July 2019. Construction work has yet to commence;
• A 3,500 sq m €16.5 m health innovation hub, also earmarked for Curraheen, cleared by planners in June 2018, with construction work yet to commence;
• A 20,000 sq m clinical research network hub on the site currently occupied by the existing dental hospital on the CUH campus. When the dental hospital moves to Curraheen, UCC sports' grounds will transfer across the road to another UCC-owned site. 

While €34m has been secured from the European Investment Bank towards the projects, College of Medicine and Health head, Professor Helen Whelton, has previously acknowledged it will cost “considerably more”.

The grant of permission for the new medical school is conditional, with six conditions attached, relating to visual amenity, traffic safety, and public health.