Professor David M A Green Vice and Chief Executive Telephone: 01905 855123 e-mail: [email protected]

Dear friend,

Meeting to discuss a potential new Medical School Wednesday January 18th at 5:45pm Charles Hastings Building, University of Worcester City Campus, Infirmary Walk, Worcester, WR1 3AL

I am writing to invite you to an exploratory, consultative meeting to discuss the potential and desirability of creating a new Medical School, based at the University of Worcester, and serving a wider region*.

As you will know, this autumn, HM Secretary of State for Health announced the intention to create an additional 1500 places annually for the education and training of medical doctors from 2018 onwards.

Following this announcement, the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) wrote to me, to ask whether the University of Worcester had aspirations to deliver any of these places. After careful consideration by the University’s executive leadership and Board of Governors the University has informed HEFCE that we do wish to commit to creating a Medical School. This is a considerable undertaking, which will take a minimum of 3 years together with a great deal of hard work and expertise.

Central to a successful application, will be the commitment and involvement of clinicians and partner institutions, as well as the capacity of the University and its staff. As the General Medical Council makes clear, a successful application by an Institution begins with an assessment of “the viability of its proposals, the expertise of its staff and its ability to provide adequate clinical experience for students.”

This meeting is the first in a series of exploratory discussions with partners and interested individuals prior to the University submitting an application and has been particularly designed to help establish the appetite amongst the medical profession in this region for such a development.

The University of Worcester has considerable strengths to contribute to a successful application but we are very conscious that success will also require full-hearted commitment and involvement from critical partner institutions, friends in the medical and health professions and medical educators in other, already successful institutions.

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The potential contribution to be made by a forward-looking dynamic School of Health and Medicine to the health and well-being of the people in this region*, and much more widely, is immense.

The meeting will take place on Wednesday January 18 at 5.45pm in the Charles Hastings Building, University of Worcester City Campus, Infirmary Walk, Worcester, WR1 3AL.

Refreshments will be served from 5 pm. As this promises to be an historic meeting, we have also created a special opportunity to visit the Infirmary Medical Museum, which is immediately adjacent to the historic Board Room at the former Worcester Royal Infirmary. The Board Room is, of course, where the British Medical Association was founded in 1832. The first special tour of the Medical Museum will begin at 5pm.

I very much hope you will be able to join us. Please feel free to bring an interested colleague. Please RSVP to Alice Rodwell on 01905 855 424 or [email protected]. Please note also that only disabled parking is available at the City Campus. There are large public car parks nearby.

Yours sincerely,

Professor David Green Vice Chancellor and Chief Executive University of Worcester

*The University of Worcester defines its travel to study area as and and those parts of the Black Country, Birmingham, Shropshire, South Staffordshire, Gloucestershire and Warwickshire which are within reasonable daily commuting reach.

Chancellor: HRH The Duke of Gloucester KG GCVO University of Worcester Henwick Grove Worcester WR2 6AJ Main Switchboard 01905 855000 Fax: 01905 855132 www.worcester.ac.uk The University of Worcester is an exempt charity.