Distinguished Medical Lectures

The past successes and future shape of the National Health Service provide the focus for public lectures by two of the most influential and informed voices in British healthcare today.

The University of Lincoln, UK, will host special free-to-attend guest talks by Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, Chair of Cancer Research UK, and Simon Stevens, Chief Executive of NHS England, as part of our Distinguished Lecture series.

The talks celebrate the establishment of a new medical school for Lincolnshire which will see the first undergraduate students begin at the University of Lincoln’s Brayford Pool Campus from this September.

Within a few years the Lincoln Medical School, a partnership between the universities of Nottingham and Lincoln, will be home to around 400 trainee doctors. A major philanthropic fundraising campaign is underway to build a dedicated teaching facility to the University of Lincoln’s existing science facilities to provide the next generation of medics with a truly state-of-the-art medical education centre.

Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, Chair of Cancer Research UK, will deliver a guest lecture on Wednesday 1st May entitled, ‘The NHS: A Success, Where Next?’. Last year the NHS celebrated 70 years since its formation.
As Chair of Cancer Research UK, Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz will use the insight he has gained from his experience at the forefront of medicine to discuss how the NHS is responding to modern medical challenges and where the NHS goes from here as it seeks to put preventative medicine at the forefront of its vision for UK health services.

Then on 14th May, Simon Stevens, Chief Executive of NHS England, will deliver his public guest lecture on ‘The NHS at 80 – What will it look like?’. In 2018 he set out five main priorities for the NHS over the next decade. These include improvements to mental health services, an overhaul of cancer screening, a renewed focus on children’s services, reducing health inequalities, and a new focus on cardio-vascular diseases.

In his talk, Simon Stevens will speak about the challenges currently facing the NHS, and how the service will respond to these in the coming decade.

Professor Toby Wilkinson, Deputy Vice Chancellor at the University of Lincoln, said: “In anticipation of the launch of the Lincoln Medical School, our Distinguished Medical Lectures will explore some of the most pressing issues facing medicine and health provision in the 21st Century.

“We look forward with great interest to these talks from two of the most important figures in the field.”
Cancer Research UK is the world’s leading cancer charity dedicated to saving lives through research. Funded entirely through charitable donations, it supports research into all aspects of cancer through the work of over 4,000 scientists, doctors and nurses. This pioneering work into the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer has helped save millions of lives over the past 40 years.

NHS England leads the NHS in England, setting the priorities and direction of the service and informing the national debate to improve health and care. It shares out more than £100 billion annually to local health providers for the commissioning of health services such as GPs, dentists, and hospitals.

The University of Lincoln’s Distinguished Medical Lectures are free to attend for the public but prior booking is essential. Both events will take place in the Isaac Newton Building on the University’s Brayford Pool Campus starting at 6pm (registration from 5.30pm). To book your place, visit www.lincoln.ac.uk/events, email events@lincoln.ac.uk or call the University Events Office on 01522 837100.