Wednesday 16th April 2025 marked a milestone for Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust as it opened the brand new healthcare facility delivered by Darwin Group.
The Trust, based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, welcomed colleagues, other health and social care organisations, local people, and team members from Darwin Group, to officially open its new Learning Centre.
The Learning Centre officially opened with a ribbon cutting ceremony, followed by an open afternoon where guests, local people, and health and care colleagues, were invited to experience the wide variety of activities available inside the centre.
The two-storey, flat-roofed facility was constructed, delivered and installed by healthcare estates specialists, Darwin Group. The Learning Centre provides a modern environment where healthcare professionals can receive training, practise simulated experiences of real-life scenarios and hone new skills. There are flexible and interactive education and teaching spaces, breakout areas, as well as a new library.
Brendan Brown, chief executive for Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust, opened the Learning Centre alongside Professor Andy Lockey, chair-elect of the European Resuscitation Council, and consultant in Emergency Medicine at the Trust.
Brendan said: “Thank you to everyone who joined us to officially open our new Learning Centre. It’s the culmination of more than 12 months of hard work to reach this significant milestone, which will support plans to transform our services across Calderdale and Huddersfield. The centre is a significant investment in our fantastic health and care workforce, and a real asset for our local community here in Halifax.”
Andy added: “I have a passion for medical education, and it’s exciting to be able to have such fantastic facilities available to our current and future health and care colleagues across Calderdale and Huddersfield. Areas such as our state-of-the-art simulation suite give valuable opportunities to practice scenarios, which not only give people the right skills, but also improve confidence and delivery of compassionate care in our hospitals and closer to home in our communities. Thank you to everyone who has been a part of it.”
Comments from those taking a tour included:
Governance administrator, Michelle Augustine: “It’s an amazing space, so airy and bright. It certainly has a different feel to our old learning centre and feels completely different to being in the hospital environment.”
Consultant, Jonathan Cowley: “The colour schemes throughout, especially in the library, make it feel open, and much more user friendly. The whole centre is not only accessible, but also a fantastic learning space.”
ICU Ward manager, Joanne Walker: “Wow, the Simulation Wards and Clinical Skills Lab are fantastic. Back in my training days I remember practicing injections on an orange!”
Non-executive director, Jo-Anne Wass: “It’s just an amazing building and there are so many flexible ways to use the meeting areas.”
Nick Dawe, managing director for Darwin Group, concluded: “We really appreciate the amazing feedback we have received. Not just from the Trust’s perspective, but also from the local neighbours who complimented the minimal noise disruption our construction site colleagues made when installing the modules for this project.
“The Learning Centre will provide the Trust’s clinicians with a modern, safe space to practise skills and scenarios. Darwin Group is proud to support the NHS in delivering effective patient care with sustainable and compliant healthcare facilities.”
The Learning Centre has been designed to complement the surrounding area and includes a solar panel system to provide a sustainable electricity source, as part of the Trust’s aim to deliver an energy efficient building. It also includes landscaped garden areas to promote biodiversity and boost wellbeing.
