Construction on the second building on the University of Huddersfield’s National Health Innovation Campus (NHIC) has officially begun, following a groundbreaking ceremony at the site in the town centre. The 6,800m² facility on Southgate will be named the Emily Siddon Building and is expected to open in December 2025.
The ground floor of the Emily Siddon Building will host a Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC), in partnership with Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust. This is a unique partnership, and the first of its kind on a university campus. The CDC will provide access to thousands of additional diagnostic tests for the people of Calderdale and Huddersfield, including MRI and CT scans, in the heart of Huddersfield. It will be the second Community Diagnostic Centre for the Trust, which recently opened its first CDC in central Halifax.
Other floors of the building will contain specialist clinical teaching facilities which will also be delivered in partnership with the Trust, including new course areas relating to the work of the CDC, such as Diagnostic Radiography. Work with other partners will allow for further developments, such as a course in Dental Hygiene and Dental Therapy.
Guests at the groundbreaking included Professor Tim Thornton, University Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Brendan Brown, Chief Executive of Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Trust and Daniel Doherty, regional director Kier Construction North & Scotland.
The National Health Innovation Campus will work with partners across the region to contribute to the improved health and wellbeing of local communities and enhance educational facilities for Huddersfield University healthcare students.
The Emily Siddon Building will also be home to a Health and Wellbeing Innovation Centre for local entrepreneurs or start-ups and organisations looking to benefit from locating with the University on the campus. The Centre is supported by the West Yorkshire Mayor and Combined Authority through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. It will be operated by the award-winning team responsible for the University’s 3M Buckley Innovation Centre.
Brendan Brown said: “We are pleased to work alongside our partners at Kier and the University of Huddersfield to deliver this exciting project. Having the new facility on the University of Huddersfield campus will allow us to give greater choice to our patients closer to home, whilst also increasing the number and breadth of tests we can carry out.”
“We are delighted that work is well under way on this vital new facility,” said Professor Thornton. “The Emily Siddon Building will help to enable courses that are vital to meeting the needs of the country's healthcare workforce, and be a home for innovation with major NHS partners including the Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Trust, as well as others in the private and voluntary sectors.
“Being named after Emily Siddon, a true pioneer in healthcare and equality in the Kirklees area, the building encapsulates our ambitions for this next exciting stage in the development of the National Health Innovation Campus.”
Dan Doherty, regional director of Kier Construction North & Scotland, said: “This is a fantastic project to be a part of and I am delighted to be working with the University of Huddersfield to help realise their ambitions.
“Not only are we building a state-of-the-art healthcare facility for the people of Calderdale and Huddersfield, but we are also helping to inspire and nurture the healthcare workforce of the future.”
Pictured left to right are: Daniel Doherty, regional director Kier Construction North & Scotland, Professor Tim Thornton, University Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Jane Owen-Lynch, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Teaching and Learning), Brendan Brown, Chief Executive of Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust and Harpreet Uppal, MP for Huddersfield.
Emily Siddon
A leading healthcare advocate who spent most of her life in nearby Honley, Emily Siddon strove to improve healthcare and equality in several prestigious roles, often reserved for men.
Emily’s many influential roles included being one of the first women to be a Poor Law Guardian in 1883, at a time when the role was vital in provided health and welfare support to disadvantages communities. She went on to be Vice Chair of the local Board of Guardians in 1903 and its Chair in 1913. As a highly respected member community, Emily was heavily involved in driving healthcare and equality developments in the Huddersfield area, including being a member of the Huddersfield Female Educational Institute from 1868 and a governor of Huddersfield Technical College from 1907 – both organisations being forerunners of the current University - until her death in 1923. Late in her life she had become only the second woman in the country to be made a Justice of the Peace and had a particular focus on mental health and learning disabilities.
Huddersfield Technical College was recognised by the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain’s list of approved institutions during Emily’s time as governor, and it also pioneered equal pay and pensions. Emily was also appointed as the only female member of the main executive committee at the Huddersfield Infirmary from the late 19th century into the 20th century.
A passionate supporter of the campaign for women to have the right to vote, Emily was Vice-President of the Council of the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies from 1907.
