A new building structure to house a new rehabilitation centre at AECC University College has been completed, and this stage in the development of the centre was celebrated with a Topping Out ceremony.

The ceremony involved putting the final brick into the outer building of the new clinical rehabilitation centre by local firm Mildren Construction Limited. The new 754 square metre building marks a significant investment of £4.5million in the future of the campus across facilities, works and specialist healthcare equipment. This investment will form an important part of the University College’s clinical service offering to the community.

The rehabilitation centre will provide nine treatment rooms and a large multi-zoned physical rehabilitation space to help people get back to health and mobility after injury or illness. It is also designed to be environmentally friendly, utilising sustainable materials in the build, installing a green roof and solar panels, using heat pumps and including bat boxes and bird boxes on the exterior. The downstairs space will have indoor-outdoor flow, and both the indoor and outdoor space will be available to use for rehabilitation exercises.

The new building is part of a broader programme of developments, which will also provide upgrades to other areas of the university campus, develop new patient services, provide new jobs, and increase the number of students studying health degrees. AECC University College has been working closely with partners across the Dorset Integrated Care System, other public, voluntary and independent sector partners to developing a suite of new training courses in key areas to help fill local workforce gaps.

The university college intends that its developments will impact positively on its local community and economy, ensuring that Boscombe is home to a specialist health sciences university and a recognised centre of excellence in clinical and rehabilitation education, care and research.
The new building is due to be opened from September 2022, and will enable AECC University College to offer a broader spectrum of clinical and rehabilitation services and support the delivery of new health courses.

The university college currently works in partnership with the NHS locally and across the South West and Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), as well as private partners, to offer chiropractic treatment, specialist MRI, ultrasound, x-ray, physiotherapy, a breastfeeding clinic and first contact physiotherapy services. Self-referral is also possible for anyone needing support such as for sports injury rehabilitation, alleviating back, neck and shoulder pain or helping older people recover normal mobility and function after a fall. The new facilities will mean that clinical services in physical and sport rehabilitation, speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, dietetics and podiatry will also be available.