Environment submissions database

Initially, during the first lockdown Lancaster concentrated resource on the wellbeing of staff and students, supporting the ~1700 students remaining on campus and prioritising teaching via delivery online. Research laboratories were closed and essential research facilities maintained by core technical and academic staff. In preparation for the eventual phased re-opening of research labs, safe systems of work and risk assessments catering for COVID-19 hazards were developed. Revised building space occupancy and circulation plans were established to enable the return to lab-based research activities beginning July 2020. Lancaster’s research capabilities, skills and expertise were harnessed to inform government, develop approaches to testing and vaccines, aid the NHS, and support wellbeing/mental health. Resources were diverted and a range of equipment and expertise was provided from across campus to support local, regional and national agencies including: • Accelerated graduation of medical students to enable them to join the NHS; • Redeployment of academic clinicians to COVID-19 service (27 weeks); • Two PCR machines loaned to the national testing effort in Milton Keynes; • COVID-19 testing labs established on Lancaster’s campus, consisting of a Category 3 containment suite where swabs were initially processed and rendered safe, and one where the subsequent molecular biology analysis was performed. The labs were co-staffed by diagnostic staff from University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust and 30 skilled university staff; • >54,000 separate items of PPE donated (gloves, aprons, safety glasses, hand sanitisers); • Engineering manufactured >1,200 curtain hooks/day for use on COVID-19 wards, headbands for protective visors and aerosol shielding boxes for healthcare workers at two local hospitals; • A range of academic contributions including to Government SPI groups, SAGE, Local Resilience Forum groups/subgroups, NHS E/I COVID-19 national taskforce for staff support and wellbeing; • Architecture worked with Lancaster City Council to develop an automated social distancing and way-finding model for businesses preparing to re-open safely after lockdown; • LUMS developed and delivered regional SME support including programmes and facilities for peer learning to support COVID recovery of local businesses; • Educational Research provided online advice and guidance for other universities struggling with online teaching transition; • Sociology created the Solidarity and Care during the COVID-19 Pandemic project, operating “locally and across continents with the aim of helping us to care better for one another”; • Politics, Philosophy and Religion created podcasts, based on research within the department, for school students to support home schooling (more details in his PPR impact case study). University staff support structures, as outlined in the institutional statement, were augmented to include COVID-19 updates, wellbeing, bereavement support, advice to managers and extended compassionate leave. Salaries were paid at 100% to furloughed staff unable to work due to caring responsibilities or their job role. The University’s research income for 2019/2020 was less than projected; some of our major grants pivoted to COVID-19 research where this was possible but restrictions and lockdown had a significant impact on expenditure from early March to July 2020 and beyond.