Updates from RCPI Council

The Council is the ultimate decision-making body of the College, and sets out the mission, vision and strategic direction of RCPI and approves general policies. 

Key updates from the RCPI Council Meeting on 29 April 2022

Fellowship Steering Group Recommendations

The Fellowship Steering Group was established by Council in February 2021 to develop a strategy to effectively engage and create value for Fellows, as well as looking at how we recruit Fellows and retain existing Fellows. 

The Steering Group’s recommendations were presented to Council by the Chair Dr Yvonne Smyth and approved.  The recommendations include;

• To recruit doctors as Fellows upon achieving CSCST and introduce a Tiered Fee Structure to encourage doctors with a CSCST to join earlier
• New Route to Fellowship for Doctors on the SDR
• New Route to Fellowship for Graduates of the International Clinical Fellowship Programmes
• Raise the Bar for Members and Fellows of Another Recognised College
• Removal of “ Privileges” if Fellows don’t pay the annual subscription

An implementation plan will be developed as some of the proposals require changes to College and Faculty By-laws.

RCPI and PWC Management Consultancy Fellowship

Dr Judi Lynch and Dr Barra Neary are the first  RCPI/PWC Management consultancy fellows and will complete their year with PWC this July. Dr Judi Lynch presented  an overview  to Council of the types of projects she has been working on during the year and discussed the skills and experience she has gained with PWC. She informed Council that the experiences gained would significantly enhance her ability to perform in her future role as a Consultant in the HSE. 3 new RCPI/PWC management consultant fellows will start in July 2022 by which time a formal curriculum will have been agreed for the programme. The programme will expand further in 2023 as EY have asked to join the Fellowship programme.

EQUALS initiative update - Equipment and Quality Support through partnerships in healthcare

Prof Diarmuid O’Donovan presented an update on the EQUALS initiative to Council.  This RCPI and HSE joint initiative has been ongoing since 2013 and aims to build capacity to improve health and address some of the global inequalities in health in Zambia (and more recently Uganda and the Ukraine) through:

• Donation of equipment
• Training and equipping biomedical engineers
• Contributing to postgraduate medical training and education.

Prof O’Donovan presented an overview of work and key achievements of the EQUALS initiative and thanked the RCPI for its support to date.  Prof O’Donovan highlighted the future plans for this initiative which were fully supported by Council.

RCPI BST and HST Online Interview Process

An overview of the online interview process in 2022 with the results of a survey of interviewees in relation to the online interview was discussed by Council.  Based on the success of the experience and the reduction in environment impact and lost time, the College Training Committee will make recommendations in relation to continuing the online interview process for 2023.

RCPI Grievance Process

An overview of the review of the College Grievance Policy and Process for Postgraduate Training was presented to Council. The new updated Grievance Process was welcomed.

RCPI Strategy 2021-2024

Mr Colm Small Head of Training discussed the KPIs for Strategic Initiatives Nos 1 and 2 ‘To enhance the quality of our training programmes and supports offered to  ensure they meet the needs of doctors’ and ‘ To develop our exam membership offering to best meet the needs of doctors’.

The next RCPI Council Meeting takes place is on Friday, 24 June 2022 at No.6 Kildare Street, Dublin 2.