RCP opens its doors in Liverpool
The first phase of the Royal College of Physicians’ Northern centre of excellence has opened at the University of Liverpool’s William Henry Duncan Building.
RCP North occupies 15,000 sq ft at the building, with its space fitted out by Turners. Two floors have been converted into suitable spaces for clinical examinations, workshops and office space, with RCP’s regional office for Mersey and North Western the first department to have moved in.
This part of the project is the start of a long-term plan to provide services outside of the capital, responding to the desire for more education and research in northern England, Scotland and north Wales and Northern Ireland, and upholding RCP’s strategic vision to benefit its members, fellows and partners in its commitment to improve patient care in the UK and internationally.
The main project, phase two, will see RCP take up permanent residence in half of a new 140,000 sq ft building that will anchor the Paddington Village within Liverpool’s Knowledge Quarter. Contractor Morgan Sindall and the city council appointed AHR to design this £35m scheme in June.
Following the cutting of a ceremonial ribbon, speeches were given by Professor Jane Dacre, RCP president, Joe Anderson, Mayor of Liverpool, and Professor Janet Beer, vice chancellor of University of Liverpool. Former president of the RCP Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, now board chairman of Liverpool Health Partners, delivered his speech via pre-recorded video.
Dacre said: “We are excited by the tremendous reception we have received – none of it is possible without the strong and generous partnerships we have forged with Liverpool City Council, University of Liverpool, KQ Liverpool and Liverpool Health Partners.
“We turn a landmark 500 years old in 2018, and RCP North and the city of Liverpool offers an impressive, vibrant home to enhance our passion to improve patient care quality beyond the UK and far into the future.”
Click any image to launch gallery
