St Bartholomew’s Hospital is a sub-brand of Queen Mary University
(Picture: AFP via Getty Images)Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry is facing a rebrand but students and alumni are protesting the change.
Britain’s oldest medical college, approaching its 900th anniversary next year, is being renamed Queen Mary University Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry in a decision of alliance with its parent school.
St Bartholomew’s Hospital, where the Duke of Edinburgh was treated a month before his passing last year, has seen a number of Nobel laureates graduate from its institution.
Queen Mary University told the Standard the rebrand was to ensure “no possible confusion” in the “strong coherent identity” as a Russel Group university.
It said: “Queen Mary University continually promotes its proud history and heritage, building on our four former institutions who all shared the same vision of improving the health and opportunities of the less privileged members of society. As a multi-faculty University, with over 32,000 students, we continue to hold true to that vision today.”
Changes have been long approaching with the merger of Queen Marys University, Westfield College and St Bartholomew’s Hospital in 1995 and critics’ reports of Barts sports clubs forced to play under the Queen Mary name.
Furore has erupted in response to the decision as student group “We are BL” organised a petition with almost 10,000 signatures.
Anger has built against Queen Mary University for its “failure to communicate” and “lack of respect” towards the student body, said We are BL in a statement yesterday.
This is a decision of “stealth”, said Jeeves Wijesuriya, an East London GP and former Student president at Barts and The London.
“One of the things I really valued about my experience was the history of the place, the people that have gone before – we were standing on the shoulders of giants,” said Dr Wijesuriya.
“I think it’s so bizarre that an international brand that means so much would be wiped away. Patients, people and applicants value the name and history of Barts and The London as an asset – I don’t get why we would want to devalue that.”
Orthopaedic surgeon and Barts and London alum Simon Fleming said on Twitter he refuses to attend his PhD graduation following the decision.
He wrote: “I will not attend my PhD graduation. You are wilfully ignoring the voices of thousands.”
A spokesperson from Queen Mary University of London said: “A strong coherent identity, following the merger in 1995, is vital to enable us to operate seamlessly as one organisation, and to underpin strong collaborative working with others to achieve shared goals.
“We have made considerable progress in consolidating and strengthening our clear identity as a leading Russell Group University over the last few years, and are now exploring avenues in order to complete this work to ensure no possible confusion for students, partners and the public.”
