Prince William visit
PRINCE William, The Duke of Cambridge, patron of the appeal to create the new Defence and National Rehabilitation Centre (DNRC), will attend the official handover of the newly built defence centre to the nation, this Thursday, June 21.
The centre, which has been purposebuilt on the Stanford Hall Estate, will provide world-class rehabilitation facilities for members of the Armed Forces who have suffered major trauma or injury during their service, and will be a 21st Century successor to Headley Court.
A national civilian facility is also planned for the same site.
The DNRC, was the idea of The Sixth Duke of Westminster, who led the £300m fund-raising drive with a personal gift of £70m.
The Seventh Duke of Westminster, on behalf of his father who died in 2016, will formally hand over the gift of the DNRC to The Prime Minister who will accept on behalf of the nation.
This event will recognise and celebrate the handover of the defence establishment to the nation – marking the endeavour that has gone into making it happen.
The Duke of Cambridge was Patron of the DNRC appeal.
During the handover ceremony, The Duke of Cambridge will make a speech, read the winning entry of the DNRC’s ‘A Poem to Remember’ national poetry competition, and unveil a statue of Major General Sir Robert Jones, acknowledged as the founder of modern orthopaedic surgery and rehabilitation.
He will then have the chance to meet some of those involved in building the DNRC during a short reception.
The handover ceremony will take place in the main courtyard within the Integrated Treatment Zone (ITZ), the centre of the new Defence facility.
The event will be attended by approximately 300 people including senior figures from Government and Defence, donors and supporters, members of the Grosvenor family, representatives from the midlands and the health authorities, members of the building and construction teams who have helped to make it happen, and a cross section of the local community.
The facility is a 95 per cent new build centre of clinical excellence. It will be treating patients by the end of 2018 – operated by the Defence Medical Services and its expert team.
The current Defence medical capability – DMRC Headley Court in Surrey – will transfer to the new, purpose-built facility at the DNRC.
Personnel will start to transition during the summer and the new facility will be operating by the end of the year.
The complementary ‘National’ facility (to treat civilians and planned to be built on the same site and share facilities with the defence facility) is currently being explored and decisions are expected in 2018.
Construction of the National facility could be conceivable from 2020.