On Monday 30 March 2026, members and fellows gathered together in Regent’s Park for College Day 2026.
This was a particularly historic event, as it was the first time in the RCP’s 500-year history that collegiate members could cast their vote for college officers and members of Council – following a vote by RCP fellows last year to extend voting rights. The BMJ described this as a ‘watershed moment for the college’, allowing younger doctors their say in the college.
The day saw a new senior censor and vice president for education and training (VPET) and four new councillors elected. A two-person job share nomination was elected unopposed for the role of vice president for Wales (VPW). The uncontested presidential election also took place on College Day, with incumbent president, Professor Mumtaz Patel as the only nominee.
There was a turnout of 23.5% across this year’s RCP elections. A full breakdown of election results is available.
Image: Professor Mumtaz Patel PRCP speaking at College Day 2026
Senior censor and vice president for education and training (VPET)
We are delighted to welcome Dr Dan Furmedge as VPET, due to start the role as soon as possible. He is a consultant physician in geriatric and internal medicine at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust who brings experience as a clinical leader, college tutor, training programme director, textbook author, PACES examiner and RCP censor.
There were 5,872 votes were cast for VPET; Dan received 2,671 votes with a narrow margin of 27 to the runner-up candidate.
A full Commentary interview with Dan on his plans in the role will follow shortly.
I am proud and excited to be elected vice president for education and training at a time of opportunity with significant upcoming national training and education reform. I am particularly enthusiastic to advocate and provide a voice for doctors at this time of change whilst ensuring that RCP is relevant, representative and valuable for physicians at all stages of their careers from medical student, through postgraduate training and consultant career to retirement.
Dr Dan Furmedge
Vice president of education and training elect
Vice president for Wales
Professor Samuel Rice and Dr Ben Thomas were elected as joint VPWs, and have now taken up the role which they will job share.
Ben is a consultant physician and nephrologist at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board. He contributes regularly to national and local teaching programmes on consent and end-of-life decision making. Sam has worked as a consultant and endocrinologist for over 16 years across hospitals in south Wales, now at Hywel Dda and Swansea Bay University Health Boards.
Both have previously worked as RCP regional advisers; Ben for North Wales since 2022 and Sam for South West Wales since 2020.
Commentary will interview the pair about how they hope to approach the shared role.
Wales has an outstanding community of highly skilled physicians who, despite significant resource pressures, consistently deliver exemplary patient care while educating future clinicians, leading services, improving quality and driving research. They are truly the glue of the NHS in Wales, and it is a privilege to call many of them colleagues and to now represent them nationally.
'The RCP is the home of our profession and is an organisation defined by integrity, strong leadership and a genuine commitment to tackling the issues that matter most to clinicians and, above all, to our patients. We look forward to using our knowledge and experience developed during our careers so far to supporting the work of the RCP in Wales.
Professor Sam Rice and Dr Ben Thomas
Joint vice presidents for Wales
Councillors
Dr Gina Allen, Dr Patrick Davey, Dr Shruthi Konda and Dr Asif Qasim were elected as new RCP councillors. RCP Council meets six times a year, and plays a leading role in shaping the RCP’s voice on healthcare policy and standards.
Asif has over 30 years of NHS experience, working as a consultant interventional cardiologist at Croydon and King’s College Hospital. He also founded a medical education platform, MedShr.
Shruthi is a consultant respiratory physician at the Royal Brompton Hospital, London. She currently works with RCP college tutors and associate college tutors as the RCP Linacre Fellow, and has worked as an MRCP(UK) PACES examiner.
Patrick has worked as a general physician, cardiologist and aeromedical examiner, with decades of experience on local and national committees. He has interests in heart failure, medical communication and medical education.
As a consultant musculoskeletal interventional radiologist and physician, Gina is the director of musculoskeletal radiology and clinical practice in Oxford, St Luke’s Radiology Oxford Ltd and is an associate fellow of Green Templeton College, University of Oxford. She also served as a physician and radiologist in the Royal Air Force during the First Gulf War.
5,560 votes were cast by RCP members and fellows in the Council elections.
All the winners will be key members of Council, the RCP’s key policy making and standards setting committee. You can read more about the work of Council in regularly published write ups, minutes and agendas.
Image: The four new RCP councillors. Top: Patrick Davey, Gina Allen. Bottom: Shruthi Konda and Asif Qasim.
Samuel Gee and FitzPatrick lectures
Alongside the RCP elections, the named lectures are also a highlight of College Day.
The first FitzPatrick lecture was held in 1903, commemorating Dr Thomas FitzPatrick who died in 1900. The lecturer this year was Dr Mark Weatherall, who spoke about ‘The uses of history of medicine, 1726–2026’.
The Samuel Gee lecture was established in 1964 by Miss Edith Thyra Gee in memory of her father Dr Samuel Jones Gee who died in 1911. Professor Sara Tabrizi delivered the 2026 lecture, ‘A new era in Huntington's disease’.
I was incredibly honoured to be asked to give the FitzPatrick Lecture. I was pleased to be able to celebrate the 300-year anniversary of the first English language history of medicine, written by the college fellow John Freind, while incarcerated in the Tower of London (it's a great story!), and to highlight other fellows who have used the history of medicine to illustrate contemporary concerns or debates within the profession. It was daunting to be following in the footsteps of the famous 20th-century British historians of medicine who have given the lecture previously (and current luminaries such as our own Harveian librarian), but I hope I did them – and the college – justice.
Dr Mark Weatherall
FitzPatrick lecturer 2026
