The hunter school of medicine: plans for a new independent medical school.

If all goes to plan, a new independent medical school, the Hunter School of Medicine, will open within a year within a quarter of a mile of BMA House in London. The time seems ripe. Firstly, the private medical sector has been expanding rapidly over the past few years, and its expansion has been accompanied by ever louder and more justified accusations that it robs the National Health Service of staff trained at the State's expense. Many people in the private sector admit that they need a medical school. Secondly, the existing medical schools, which receive most of their income from the University Grants Committee, are experiencing a lean time. Finally, "privatisation" is the word of the year, and the present Government is enthusiastic about breaking State monopolies and encouraging private sector initiative. Why shouldn't British medical education follow the same path as British Telecom, British Airways, and, maybe, British Rail?