Birmingham

Why I work in Birmingham “Birmingham is my home town and I love working here. The city is multi-cultural and this means that I deal with new scenarios every day; no two days are the same. The city is centrally located for travelling to all areas of the UK and has all of the shops and services anyone could need. In my dealings with Heart of Birmingham Primary Care Trust, I have always found them very supportive and friendly.” — Rizwan Imrani, pharmacist, Gate Pharmacy, Birmingham.

Population 1,010,200

Local authority Birmingham City Council is a unitary authority with no party in overall control and is the largest local authority in Europe (120 councillors in 40 wards). The Conservatives are the largest group, with 45 councillors. The Audit Commission reported in March 2009 that Birmingham City Council is improving well and gave it three stars. The council has previously attained “beacon” status for innovation and excellence in certain key areas.

MPs Ten: eight Labour, one Conservative and one Liberal Democrat.

Health Service Birmingham has three primary care trusts (Heart of Birmingham, Birmingham East and North, and South Birmingham). The Heart of England Foundation NHS Trust is one of the largest in the UK and has four sites — Birmingham Heartlands Hospital, Solihull Hospital, Good Hope Hospital and Birmingham Chest Clinic. The trust was rated “good” for quality of services and “excellent” for use of resources in 2007–08. Birmingham Women’s NHS Foundation Trust was rated as “good” for quality of services and “excellent” for use of resources in 2007–08.  Birmingham Children’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust was rated as “fair” for quality of services and “excellent” for use of resources in 2007–08. (Ratings from the Care Quality Commission, previously the Healthcare Commission.)

Pharmacy school Aston University has a pharmacy school offering a MPharm degree in pharmacy.

Local pharmaceutical committee Birmingham LPC represents 253 pharmacies across the Birmingham area. Other LPCs in the West Midlands include Dudley, Wolverhampton, and Walsall and Solihull.

Royal Pharmaceutical Society branch The Society’s Birmingham branch has 1,229 members, nine fellows, 29 preregistration trainees and 108 registered technicians.

Open space Birmingham is an ethnically and culturally diverse city with a rich industrial heritage. There are over 8,000 acres of open parkland in Birmingham. Sutton Park, six miles from the city centre covers 2,400 acres and is the largest urban nature reserve in Europe. The Birmingham Botanical Gardens and The Winterbourne Botanic Garden are close to the city centre. The city is also well equipped for shopping with the Bullring Shopping Centre, the Mailbox, the Pallasades and the Great Western Arcade being some of its main malls.

Schools  “Good” primaries are Alston Primary, Kitwell, Benson Community and Cherry Orchard. St Nicholas Catholic Primary is rated “excellent”. James Brindley Hospital School is “outstanding” and educates children in hospital across 12 sites in the city. Aston Manor School (Secondary) is a “good school with some outstanding features”. Ninestiles School is rated as “outstanding”. All school ratings are taken from most recent Ofsted reports.

Commuter links Trains to London (around 1 hr 25 min). Motorway links: M6 to the North and M5 to the South. London can be reached via the M6 and M1 in 2 hrs 30 min.

Property prices Two bed flat: £60k to £167k; terraced: £85k to £170k; three bed semi: £110k to £210k; four bed detached: £270k to £365.