Multi-million pound donation from Dr Assem Allam will provide a centre of research excellence and replacement clinical facilities

Local businessman and philanthropist, Dr Assem Allam (pictured, at the opening of the Allam Robotics Centre, Castle Hill), has pledged to donate approximately £3m to Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust to provide enhanced clinical research and clinical facilities at Hull Royal Infirmary.

Once completed the proposed scheme would see diabetes, endocrinology and metabolic bone disease services re-located from their current home in the Brocklehurst building on Anlaby Road to a modern facility adjacent to the Women and Children’s Hospital. While patients would directly benefit from a much improved environment the overall aim is to enhance and develop clinical research facilities in diabetes, endocrinology and metabolic bone disease at Hull Royal Infirmary and help in attracting high calibre research staff and research funding streams into our region.

In recent years Dr Allam and his family have contributed significant donations to the improvement of health facilities in Hull and the East Riding of Yorkshire. In 2014 a £1.4m donation enabled the development of robotic surgery at Castle Hill Hospital. In April this year, the Fatima Allam Birth Centre was established through a gift of £370,000 generously made by Mrs Fatima Allam, Dr Allam’s wife. Dr Allam and his family have also given significant financial support to medical research activities over recent years.  Only last month Her Majesty the Queen opened the £28m Allam Medical Building at the University of Hull, made possible thanks to a multi-million pound donation from Dr Allam.

Dr Allam said: “If we are to deliver a world class research facility we need to be able to attract a high calibre of staff and combine that recruitment with the necessary ‘state-of-the-art’ accommodation. It is my objective to facilitate the creation of a centre for clinical research excellence that will be recognised at national and international level. We are working on the designs for this building at present and that will determine the final costs for this project but I want this to be a construction with outstanding design features on the Hull Royal Infirmary site.”

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust has recognised for some time that the research and clinical facilities housed in the Brocklehurst building need to be both modernised and expanded. With NHS budgets challenged both regionally and nationally the donation from Dr Allam will make it possible to replace the existing building with a new purpose-built facility on the Hull Royal Infirmary site.

Thozhukat Sathyapalan, Professor of Endocrinology, Hull York Medical School, said:

“Diabetes is a global epidemic and over one in 20 people in the UK have diabetes with significant consequences to their health. Endocrine and metabolic disorders such as thyroid disorders, polycystic ovary syndrome and osteoporosis also have a tremendous impact on health and quality of life affecting millions of people. This state of the art, purpose built facility will enable Hull to develop a centre of clinical research excellence and care in diabetes, endocrinology and metabolism. This will build on the successful and ongoing research programmes which are taking place in the Brocklehurst building and for it to be recognised both nationally and internationally.”

Chris Long, Trust Chief Executive, said:

“This will be another significant donation from Dr Allam and his family to the Trust, building on earlier support that has helped to transform the lives of our patients and their families through investment in modern, highly technical equipment, buildings and research. We are extremely grateful to Dr Allam for his continued support and we will work closely with him to ensure his vision for improvements to clinical research and patient facilities in our region are achieved.”

Detailed planning work is now ongoing to define requirements and to design the building. It is planned that the new facility will be commissioned by June 2019.