This has been a sobering week for Liverpool and for all of us so connected to our community.
Scenes of celebration suddenly replaced with tragedy, and for clinical colleagues around the city, the call to action in response to this major incident. Yet, it is at such times that Liverpool’s deep-rooted solidarity - the mixture of grit, resilience and togetherness - shines through. A recent article notes how such ‘place-based solidarity’ with its shared commitment, and everyday caring practices, has been a key contributor to Liverpool’s success.
Our togetherness is also one of the things that I’m most proud of in our school. Despite our size, and our distribution over such a variety of expert placement sites, there is a pulsing school community of care that makes us stand out from the crowd in the University, develops clinical understanding, empowers careers and inspires our patients to help us and foster the next generation of doctors.
Our connection to each other and to the people we serve in the community around us is also exemplified by the amazing fund-raising that goes on over the year from many students as well as staff. Indeed, in addition to sharing her key tips for your clinical assessments, Kat from our Clinical Skills team has been baking and will be abseiling the Cathedral (!) in aid of Claire House.
I know that this week especially, you will have been looking out for each other, and I take great pride in the fact that those of you who will qualify very soon, and those of you spending time with patients on placement, can be there, in simple solidarity with the patients and carers around you, whose lives are suddenly assaulted by fear of the unknown, or by illness, and make it more bearable, by being you.