Birmingham is the UK’s second city and the youngest city in Europe. It is famed for its canals, curry and culture. It has unusual origins. Most cities grow around ports, river crossings or other geographical advantages, Birmingham became a manufacturing centre because of the variety of its people’s knowledge and skills. The 18th century home of the Midlands Enlightenment became the city of 1000 trades. Industry grew the city into the constantly evolving, multicultural metropolis that we see today. Perhaps this makes Birmingham a particularly appropriate place to host the South West SAPC conference. After all, primary care is the sum of its multidisciplinary practitioners’ many skills, forward looking and always reinventing itself for a changing world.

University of Birmingham has the largest medical school in the South West SAPC region. We recently created a new Centre for Primary Care Improvement, bringing together our wide range of research and education activities in primary care. From autumn 2023, our innovative MSc Primary Care Research and Leadership will make University of Birmingham the UK’s centre for developing the next generation of primary care leaders. Our extensive research activities include evaluating new ways of delivering primary care, multimorbidity, chronic disease management, health informatics, continuity of care and many others.