Health Services Management Centre (HSMC) at University of Birmingham

Postgraduate programmes are taught at Park House just a short walk from the centre of the University campus and providing a comfortable and well-appointed study environment.

The Health Services Management Centre is based at Park House, a Victorian building, set in extensive grounds near Edgbaston Pool and the University campus. The house, which was originally called 'Southfields', was built for John Hawkins, a screw manufacturer in Birmingham. It had various owners and was eventually bought by Barrow and Geraldine Cadbury who, in 1945, donated it to the United Birmingham Hospitals for use as a residential nurses' training school. When the nurses' training school was moved to new premises, Park House was acquired by the University of Birmingham and the Health Services Management Centre was established there in 1972.

HSMC has a library and resource room. It is a specialist information provider which houses a unique collection of books, journals and electronic material on the non-clinical aspects of health care, including: health policy, NHS management, leadership and partnership working.

Library services include; reference and enquiries, lending, current awareness, and user education as well as a range of services supporting trends in both distance and e-learning.

The library itself contains a study area with 5 PCs, a photocopier and printing facilities. A fully equipped IT resource room containing a further 12 PCs for private study, including one designated for disabled use, is also available.

Park House has 4 fully equipped teaching rooms: the Courtyard Room, the Garden Room, the Woodland Room and the largest, the Southfield Room, which can seat up to 75 people theatre style.

The dining area can accommodate up to 45 for a sit-down meal and up to 100 for a standing buffet. Visitors can also make use of the large patio in good weather. Our snack bar is open 11 months of the year from 8.30 am until 2.30 pm each day.