Staff Praise UK’s First WELL Gold Health Facility

The Northumbria Health and Care Academy has officially opened its doors, earning praise as the UK’s first health facility to achieve WELL Gold certification.

The academy was formally opened this month, June 2025, by Dame Ruth May, former Chief Nursing Officer for England, who unveiled a plaque marking the £32 million development as officially open.

Dame Ruth shared, “The future of healthcare depends on developing a first-class nursing, midwifery and allied health professional workforce. To attract and retain the best talent, we need to offer people the opportunity to train, learn and progress in their chosen career paths. The Northumbria Health and Care Academy is an exceptional example of an NHS organisation thinking about the challenges facing it and then developing a solution to address them.”

The academy is a key part of Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust’s wider commitment to staff development and sits adjacent to the Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital in Cramlington. Its official opening also marks a year since welcoming its first students, a moment that served as an opportunity to reflect on the positive impact already being made.

Dr Birju Bartoli, Northumbria Healthcare’s Chief Executive, commented, “At its heart, the NHS is all about people. We want to continue providing excellent care to the people in our communities, and to do that we need the best people working for us. We are committed to supporting new and existing colleagues to progress their careers, develop their skills and maximise their potential, helping them to provide outstanding care. As everyone here today will have seen, we’ve not just invested in a building but have created state-of-the-art teaching and learning spaces which immerse participants into replica clinical environments.”

From the outset, the academy was designed with the wellbeing of staff, students and patients at its core. Working to the WELL Building Standard, the design team focused on creating an environment that promotes health, comfort, and productivity, guided by the 10 WELL Concept areas.

For those interested in learning more about designing to WELL Gold, Healthcare Lead Sharon Cook has written a detailed piece for Health Estate Journal on how the standards were implemented at the academy. Read full article and register for HEJ.