In March 2024, the Royal College of Physicians (the College) held an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) of fellows, arranged to debate issues relating to physician associates.
Several members of the College raised significant concerns following the EGM, mainly about how the findings of a survey were presented at the EGM and the conduct of participants.
Following the fallout from the EGM, senior members of the RCP called for the RCP president Dr Clarke to leave her post. Dr Clarke resigned earlier in the year.
This follows the resignation of the Faculty of Physician Associates president and board en masse too earlier this year, which were hosted at the Royal College of Physicians.
In response to these concerns the RCP commissioned The King’s Fund to examine the events leading up to the EGM. The King’s Fund also looked at how the initial communication was received from the petitioners; the running of the EGM; and the relevant activities after the EGM.
The King’s Fund has found poor interpersonal relationships within the College, which included ‘shouting and the use of intimidatory language on both open and closed social media’. It was also found that there was limited support for senior officers and at least some executives in carrying out their roles effectively in times of pressure, and they also lacked the time to meet their responsibilities fully at such times.
The King’s Fund found that the survey design, questionnaire development, analysis and the dissemination of the results were lacking. In recognising that this work requires specific expertise, the King’s Fund concluded these skills were either lacking at the RCP or, where they did exist, they were not used.
It is felt by that there is a pervasive lack of trust and confidence in the College’s governance according to the report. The Board of Trustees ‘does not operate as a single board with lay and clinical trustees’ acting together.
The King Fund also found that the RCP Council was not operating effectively. Decision-making processes are unclear and this both creates inefficiency in the way in which the College operates and puts individuals at risk of challenge where decisions are not seen to be undertaken transparently.
It was also concluded there was a lack of clear processes and that there was a perceived lack of transparency and organisational bias, in relation to the EGM survey findings.
The King’s Fund have recommended that their report is considered in full by both the Board of Trustees and Council of the RCP, and that processes are put in place to build upon their findings.
The RCP have today announced that the Faculty of Physician Associates will close at the end of the year, with a new professional independent body for PAs to be established from 2025.