The Royal College of Physicians is moving into its new northern home RCP at The Spine in Liverpool.
Built in partnership with Liverpool City Council, the RCP will occupy six floors of the 13-storey building, providing events, services and activities closer to its members in the north. The Spine, set in the new Paddington Village development and part of the wider Liverpool Knowledge Quarter, is on track to achieve a very high rating in the exacting international WELL building standard, which would make it one of the healthiest buildings in the world.
Although RCP at The Spine will not be fully open until September, the RCP has already begun to host exams in its purpose-built facilities for assessment, with physician associate exams from 6 May. In June the new educational facilities will host test events before courses and education programmes begin in July. Our educational activities will benefit from two new features of the building – an education room with 18 interactive screens to enable wider audiences across the world take part in our courses, and a Harvard Lecture Theatre, designed to encourage easy interaction and breakout groups in a relaxed environment.
Our presence in the north as a beacon of public health excellence will support one of our major policy initiatives, that of reducing health inequality. It provides a new opportunity to become involved in the kind of local/regional public health research that could contribute to healthier lives, reduce multiple morbidities and health inequality, working closely with existing organisations such as the Northern Health Science Alliance, local health commissioners and providers.
RCP president Dr Andrew Goddard said:
‘RCP at The Spine will deliver what our members tells us they want the most – for the RCP to be educating, improving and influencing – with our state-of-the-art assessment centre and educational facilities. It will allow us to have a base for our health improvement work as we continue to set high standards in educating physicians to provide the best care for patients in the UK and across the world. Our major investment in RCP at The Spine shows that we want to get closer to our members in the north and demonstrates that we’re all about health and healthcare right across the UK today.’