£1.5 million funding agreed for dentistry school

The Greater Norwich Growth Board has unanimously agreed to progress this project to the next stage, recommending £1.5 million is allocated to support the delivery of a new School of Oral Health at the University of East Anglia. 
 
Subject to a final stage of decision making, the money, from the Infrastructure Investment Fund, will be used to construct an extension to the Edith Cavell Building on the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital Campus. Works are currently underway to deliver a ground floor extension which will be UEA's new Anatomy Suite. This funding will enable a first-floor extension, which will be home to the School of Oral Health. 
 
The space will be equipped with dentist chairs, clinical grade fittings and other specialist teaching infrastructure such as phantom heads, teaching laboratory and seminar rooms. When completed the school will provide capacity for 40 undergraduate students per year. If undergraduate training starts in September 2026, the first cohort of dental students would qualify as dentists in June 2031, but they will be able to start delivering basic treatment with a few years. 
 
UEA will be drawing on their significant experience of managing a successful medical school to retain graduates in the area. Currently, one third of UEA Medical School graduates working long term in the region post qualification.  
 
This represents a significant step towards addressing the lack of NHS dentist capacity in Norfolk. 

Councillor Kay Mason Billig, leader of Norfolk County Council, said: 
"We need to ensure everyone has access to dental care. This is an important part of our strategy for Norfolk, aiming to attract and retain the right skills in key areas. The East of England is chronically underserved, with our nearest undergraduate dental courses in Birmingham and London. 
 
"Norfolk County Council has been working hard to support UEA's ambitions for a new School of Oral Health, which is why we brought this proposal to the Greater Norwich Growth Board. We are delighted therefore that this investment now has the support of district partners." 
 
Councillor Sue Holland, Leader of Broadland District Council and Chair of the Greater Norwich Growth Board said: "The lack of access to a dentist is a real concern for too many of our residents. There are long waiting lists and Norfolk is in the bottom 10% when it comes to the availability of NHS appointments.  
 
"This will be the first dental school opened in the UK since 2005 and it will have an immediate impact. Training dentists locally will provide much needed resources for existing dental practices."  
 
Planning for the future growth of the School of Oral Health is already underway with the majority of cost for the further expansion being covered by revenue received by UEA through course income.  
 
Future works enable an expansion of facilities both within and beyond the Edith Cavell Building to accommodate a larger number of students, increasing from 40 to 65 students per year.  
 
Prof David Maguire, Vice Chancellor of the University of East Anglia, said:  
"This is great news and we thank the Greater Norwich Growth Board for its unanimous support. Providing dental training here in Norwich will be a positive move towards helping local people get the care they need. This is an important step in our bid to deliver undergraduate dental training at UEA, building on the success of the Norwich Medical School." 
 
For more information visit the Greater Norwich Growth Board website: www.greaternorwichgrowth.org.uk 

About the Greater Norwich Growth Board

The Greater Norwich Growth Board is a partnership between Norfolk County Council, Norwich City Council, South Norfolk District Council, Broadland District Council and the New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership. They together to accelerate the delivery of infrastructure within the wider Greater Norwich area by working across individual administrative boundaries. Income is received from the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) and is pooled within the Infrastructure Investment Fund (IIF). Since 2014 £44m of IIF funding, and £54.5m of CIL supported borrowing has helped lever in at least an additional £296m of match funding to deliver infrastructure projects across the Greater Norwich area. The board and partnership are recognised nationally for their work and are seen as an exemplar model of working by the Planning Advisory Service (PAS). In 2020 the growth board won the partnership working category at the 2020 national Planning Awards.