Since our last edition of Commentary, the RCP has been working to represent our members and support the work of physicians. Learn more about what we’ve been up to and how you can get involved.
RCP governance matters
Read the latest updates on RCP governance matters and find your opportunities to get involved.
The RCP Council met in open session in September.
You can read a full summary of the open section of the meeting on the RCP news page.
As part of the RCP’s commitment to transparency, summaries of all open session Council discussions are published online following each meeting.
- RCP publishes summary of July 2026 Council meeting.
- RCP publishes summary of May 2026 Council meeting.
- RCP publishes summary of March 2026 Council meeting
- RCP publishes summary of January 2026 Council meeting.
- RCP publishes summary of November 2025 Council meeting.
- RCP publishes summary of September 2025 Council meeting.
About RCP Council
RCP Council meets six times a year to debate, develop and approve policy on professional and clinical matters.
- Learn more about the governance of the RCP.
- Read about the role and responsibilities of Council.
- Read about our impact in the media.
- Read our recent news stories and blogs.
Council meeting minutes (open section) are published in the member-only section of the RCP website once they are approved at the following meeting. The closed section of the meeting is reserved for fellowship and business-sensitive information.
For more information, please contact Council@rcp.ac.uk.
Our officer, committee and other clinical volunteer roles are an ideal opportunity to support the RCP, guide our decision-making and ensure the voice of the membership is included across all activity.
Read about the latest opportunities.
- Fellows and members can view the video of the AGM on the RCP website (behind the website login). This includes the presidential address, presentations from senior officers and the reports of the Board of Trustees and Council. All submitted reports and appointments were accepted by the fellows present at the meeting who voted.
- Thanks are due to Dr David Lindsay who delivered the Linacre Lecture 2026: Schrödinger's CAT remembered. View the lecture on demand if you were unable to join on the day.
The RCP annual report 2025: A year of progress and change is now available.
Fellows and members can access meeting summaries and further information about the Board of Trustees and Council (behind the website login).
- At September Council members broadly welcomed the review of the election cycle 2026 and work will now take place to establish the detailed election arrangements and timetable 2027. These will be shared when the nomination period for the roles of academic vice president and new councillors (open to eligible fellows) opens in December. When the ballot window opens in late February 2027 both fellows and collegiate members will have the opportunity to vote in these elections.
- The special general meeting (SGM) of fellows to annually elect a president will be held on Monday 22 March 2027 as part of College Day. Further details of the process will follow in December with arrangements including the Fitzpatrick and Samuel Gee lectures and dinner.
Recent RCP work
Read more about our work, from publications, award winners and responses to healthcare reports, on our News and opinion page – and see some of the recent highlights below.
Over the past 2 months, the RCP has published multiple responses to bills and consultations. The RCP news pages contain full details of the following stories:
- RCP welcomes £140m urgent care boost but warns ending corridor care needs whole-system action.
- Workforce planning will be key to delivering Community by Design, says RCP Cymru Wales.
- RCP calls on GMC to distinguish clearly between doctors, PAs and PAAs.
- RCP urges government to close loopholes in tobacco and vape marketing rules.
- 'Physicians see the consequences over an overstretched social care system': RCP responds to Prime Minister's Speech at the Labour Party conference 2026.
- RCP Cymru Wales welcomes Healthcare Inspectorate Wales (HIW) report.
- RCP responds to regulations for 2027 specialty training recruitment.
- RCP welcomes £1.5bn NHS investment but warns heat resilience must be a long-term priority.
- ‘The pipeline will run dry’: government clinical trial ambitions at risk as clinical academic careers in decline, warn RCP.
The quality of medical training should be measured and scrutinised as seriously as NHS finances, operational performance and patient safety, according to a major new report published by the RCP.
In its new report, Training physicians for the future: a blueprint for reforming postgraduate medical training, the RCP warns that years of underinvestment in medical education, eroded learning opportunities and inadequate accountability for training quality risk undermining patient care, worsening workforce pressures and leaving the NHS without the senior clinicians it will need in future.
Developed by a writing group of resident doctors, the report calls for medical education to become a visible, protected and accountable part of delivering NHS services.
Read more about the report and hear from resident doctors in a series of blogs on the topic.
A new clinical consensus statement aims to tackle the postcode lottery in specialist cancer care by setting out the core services that cancer patients should be able to access locally and the specialist expertise that should be available through regional networks when they become acutely unwell.
Published by the RCP and Macmillan Cancer Support, the clinical consensus statement on acute and supportive oncology sets out what health systems should provide to reduce significant variation across the NHS and ensure patients can access timely specialist support wherever they live.
Read more on the RCP news page.
The RCP has taken member priorities to six party conferences across the UK, calling for action on the medical workforce, training, neighbourhood care, public health and prevention.
This autumn, the RCP attended the Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democrat, Plaid Cymru, Green and Reform party conferences, meeting parliamentarians and health spokespeople to discuss the challenges facing physicians and patients. Across conference season, we made the case for action on workforce pressures, retention and postgraduate medical training, while contributing to discussions about neighbourhood and community care, public health and prevention. We also used meetings with political stakeholders to set out the priorities in our new 2026–30 strategy.
Read our summary of our attendance and reflections from RCP senior censor and vice president for education and training, Dr Dan Furmedge.
The latest issue of the Future Healthcare Journal (FHJ) calls for oral health to be more closely integrated into medicine, highlighting its importance to prevention, diagnosis and the management of wider health conditions.
Guest edited by oral and maxillofacial surgeon Ms Jasmine Ho, the issue explores the influence of oral health across the life course, from childhood to older age. It considers its links with wider health conditions, inequalities in access to dental care and whether doctors receive enough training to recognise and respond to oral health problems.
The issue also includes articles on caring for people with multiple long-term conditions, leading healthcare innovation, measuring digital clinical work and helping clinicians navigate diagnostic uncertainty. Introducing the issue, FHJ editor-in-chief Dr Andrew Duncombe writes: ‘All physicians now need to be aware of the impact of oral health on organ systems and systemic disease.’
Read more about what is included in the latest edition and keep an eye out for the upcoming edition of ClinMed.
RCP members and fellows joined our latest Meet your president event to share their experiences of working in today’s NHS and discuss the challenges and opportunities facing the medical profession.
The online discussion provided a valuable opportunity for physicians in the UK and around the world to raise issues directly with RCP president Professor Mumtaz Patel and other senior officers. Topics ranged from continuity of care and workforce pressures to training reform, wellbeing and how best to support doctors throughout their careers.
Read more about the event and find out about our next sessions in November, online for student and foundations doctors and in-person in Liverpool.
New data from the RCP reveals growing concern among physicians that NHS services are not keeping pace with the rising number of patients living with multiple long-term conditions, with two-thirds reporting they have seen poorer care or patient harm linked to fragmentation between specialties and services.
A new snapshot survey of RCP members suggests that caring for patients with multiple long-term conditions is now a routine part of practice across the medical specialties, challenging assumptions that this is primarily an issue affecting only the oldest and frailest patients.
Read more about these findings.
Presidents from four medical royal colleges joined specialist, associate specialist and specialty (SAS) doctors for a special Meet your president event on 5 October 2026, discussing how colleges and employers can improve recognition, career development and leadership opportunities across the SAS workforce.
The RCP marked SAS Week 2026 by bringing together presidents from four medical royal colleges for an open conversation with SAS doctors about recognition, professional development and the changes needed to help every doctor reach their potential.
Read more about the event and how the RCP is supporting SAS doctors.
The RCP has made an externally produced Leng review draft national clinical protocol for physician assistants (PAs) available to members behind the log-in. The document has not been developed, commissioned or endorsed by the RCP and does not represent college policy.
Read more about this on the RCP news page.
Award winners
Did you know we distribute around £350,000 in RCP funding and awards to our members and fellows every year?
Thanks to historic donations, we are able to recognise and invest in the expertise, innovation and leadership of our members, celebrate their impact and achievements, and support our global community to make real change and shape the future of medicine.
Our latest award winners are Dr Lennard Lee (the Dwyer-Hart RCP medical research grant) and Dr Simon Price (the RCP Lewis Thomas Gibbon Jenkins of Briton Ferry quality improvement fellowship), a GP registrar in Bridgend, Wales with a background spanning frontline clinical medicine, quality improvement and digital healthcare transformation.
His 12-month project, 'Improving equitable access to same day emergency care in Wales: a digitally enabled GP-to-SDEC referral pathway' aims to develop and evaluate a standardised, digitally enabled referral pathway, allowing patients to access hospital assessment and treatment directly, without unnecessary emergency department visits. The ambition is to reduce delays, improve patient experience and create a sustainable model that could be adopted more widely across NHS Wales.
Find out more about RCP funding and awards.
Image: Dr Simon Price
The RCP virtual poster competition
The RCP virtual poster competition offers UK medical students and resident doctors the opportunity to share their work. The initiative celebrates the achievements of early career doctors and enables professional development of presentation, leadership and public speaking skills.
The 2026 competition invited subscribing RCP members to submit a 500-word abstract in four categories:
- Quality improvement and patient safety / audit
- Education, training and medical professionalism
- Research – including clinical, translational and innovation
- Clinical / case reports / digital health
From 446 submissions, 55 abstracts were shortlisted and presented their poster online to an audience of their peers and senior consultants. We are pleased to announce this year's winners:
QI and patient safety / audit:
Winner: Dr Samuel Panday, cardiology ST5 at King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust on Closing the post-ACS lipid gap: A cardiology-led pathway to improve lipid optimisation and access to injectable therapy.
Highly commended: Dr Robert Bannister, gastroenterology IMT3 at University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust on Diagnosis is not enough: A three-cycle quality improvement study of endoscopic diagnosis and early management in inflammatory bowel disease.
Education, training and medical professionalism
Winner: Ben Macfarlane, medical student at University of Glasgow on From journal club to platform: a student-led initiative to improve research engagement and access in undergraduate medical education.
Highly commended: Dr Divakar Hamal, GIM IMT1 at King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust on Digital Instruction And Supervision For Tele-mentored Acute Care UltrasouNd Competency Education [DISTANCE] Pilot Project.
Research
Winner: Keara Morfey, medical student at Nottingham University Hospitals on Understanding differential signalling of TGFb1 and TGFb2 in bronchopulmonary dysplasia.
Highly commended: Elias Khattar, medical student at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust on Morphological and haemodynamic analysis of coronary arteries towards understanding mechanism behind atherosclerotic disease.
Clinical/case reports/digital health
Winner: Dr Akshat Sinha, cardiology foundation doctor at Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust on Too Young, Too Soon: Recurrent Acute Coronary Syndromes Despite Apparently Optimal Conventional Risk Control In A Young South Asian Male With Residual Cardiometabolic Risk.
Highly commended: Dr Harrison Bolt, respiratory IMT2 at Whittington Health NHS Trust on EVALI With Severe Ischaemic Cardiomyopathy: The Importance Of Detailed Vaping History And Multi-Disciplinary Decision-Making.
Coming up
There is plenty more to look forward to during the rest of 2026, including a variety of events for resident doctors and new consultants. Read on to find out more.
RCP events and upcoming opportunities
Be part of the RCP's largest specialty conference on Monday 23 – Tuesday 24 November.
Join us in London or online for 2 inspiring days of expert insight, cutting-edge research and the latest clinical updates across 15+ specialties.
Discover expert-led sessions, interactive workshops and valuable networking opportunities designed to support your professional development. Plus, every ticket includes on-demand access, so you can catch up on sessions whenever it suits you.
The diary of the first known multiple sclerosis patient will be displayed as part of a new exhibition at the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) museum which explores perspectives often overlooked in traditional medical histories, told through the voices of patients themselves.
The exhibition opened on 14 September 2026 and is free to visit at the RCP at St Andrew's Place, London until 23 July 2027.
Read more about the exhibition in this edition of Commentary or visit the RCP museum website.
Elizabeth Douglas, senior curator, RCP museum, said:
‘For centuries, the history of medicine has been told through doctors and scientists, while patients themselves have too often been left out. Patient voices: power, truth, understanding redresses that balance. Working with our patient advocacy steering group has shaped every part of this exhibition, and each object on display carries a voice that deserves to be heard. From an 18th-century diary to newly commissioned artwork, these stories span 3 centuries but speak to something timeless: what it really means to live through illness. I hope visitors come away seeing the history of medicine, and their own experiences of healthcare, in a new light.’
Build a body: children’s workshop
Tuesday 27 October | RCP at Regent’s Park, London
Join us for a fun half-term papercraft workshop where you get to draw and create your very own ‘Build a body’ artwork inspired by the collections.
Museum Late: exploring patient voices
Thursday 5 November | RCP at Regent’s Park, London
Explore new exhibition ‘Patient voices: power, truth, understanding’ after hours and join a free tour with senior curator Liz Douglas.
Trancribathon: recipes for the ages (virtual)
Friday 13 November | online
Join the Early Modern Recipes Online Collective, Wellcome Collection, and the RCP for a day of transcribing, virtual chatting and live talks.
Patient voices: Autumn lectures (virtual)
Wednesday 18 November | online
Join us for an online lectures evening exploring examples of voices of both visible and marginalised female patients featured in exhibition ‘Patient voices: power, truth, understanding’.
Museum Late: Patient voices and festive crafts
Thursday 3 December | RCP at Regent’s Park, London
Explore the museum after hours, discover exhibition ‘Patient voices’ and get creative with festive crafts inspired by our collections!
Illuminated lettering workshop
Saturday 5 December | RCP at Regent’s Park, London
Join us on this practical workshop with expert artist Sarah Davis to make your very own gold leaf illuminated letter to take home or give as a festive gift.
Applications are now open for the RCP Whitney-Wood scholarship: Receive up to £50,000 in research funding
The RCP Whitney-Wood scholarship offers up to £50,000 towards salary and direct project costs for research in health and medicine.
- 12-month full-time project, or part-time equivalent
- All areas of health and medicine considered
- Cancer research especially encouraged
- Open to RCP subscribing members and fellows
The award includes:
- Up to £50,000 for your research project
- Recognition across RCP channels
Apply today for the chance to receive up to £50,000 in funding and make a meaningful contribution to clinical science and healthcare.
Applications close on Tuesday 1 December 2026.
Clinical Medicine is among the top 15% of general medical publications worldwide. By publishing open access with Clinical Medicine, you can:
- expand your reach
- amplify your visibility
- connect with collaborators across the globe
- contribute to high-quality educational resources supporting clinical practice.
As an RCP member you can publish in the journal for free. That’s a saving of up to £1,850 per article (depending on exchange rate).
Join our many members who have published original research for free, including RCP fellow Professor Trisha Greenhalgh, who told us how the fee waiver has benefited her:
‘Clinical Medicine processed our paper promptly and we were delighted to discover that we were exempt from the publication fee because we were members and fellows of the RCP. This was a significant benefit at a time when our grant had run dry. The paper has been highly accessed and widely cited.’
Call for papers: AI in clinical healthcare
This special issue of ClinMed and Future Healthcare Journal explores current and future applications of AI in healthcare. We welcome research from all medical specialties and healthcare settings. Find out more and submit by 31 January 2027.
Did you know that we provide a recognised route to General Medical Council (GMC) registration for internationally qualified physicians taking up short-term development opportunities in the UK?
The scheme supports host hospitals, NHS employers and international doctors with:
- a recognised route to registration without PLAB or MRCP
- end-to-end support from enquiry to GMC registration
- complimentary RCP membership in the first year, discounted in the second
- access to learning opportunities
- dedicated RCP guidance and expertise.
The RCP has launched a dedicated resource webpage for IMGs joining and working in the NHS. The page brings together:
- practical guidance on applying for NHS jobs
- visas and living essentials
- pre‑employment checks
- NHS induction
- supervision and ePortfolio use
- career development and training pathways.
Designed with IMGs in mind, the hub signposts to RCP resources and trusted information, in order to support a smoother transition into UK practice.
Applications open in November for our medical student elective bursaries.
Up to 12 grants of £500 each are available to undergraduate medical students at UK universities who will be undertaking a medical elective overseas.
Applications for the RCP Dame Sheila Sherlock travelling fellowships in hepatology will open 16 November 2026.
These fellowships offer consultants and residents the opportunity to learn new techniques and gain experiences through travel and the exchange of ideas.
From November 16, members and fellows of the RCP are invited to apply to deliver the highly esteemed RCP Linacre lecture. The lecture may be given on any area of medical science.
Applicants should have held the MRCP qualification for 15 years or less.
Find out more and apply online from 16 November.
Future Healthcare Journal (FHJ) is seeking to further diversify its multidisciplinary editorial board and is interested in hearing from healthcare professionals working in any specialty and location. Experience in publishing is not essential and we champion diversity and inclusion. The deadline to apply is 22 November 2026.
Deceased fellows
Munk’s Roll is the RCP’s collection of biographies of deceased fellows, published online as Inspiring Physicians. To write an obituary or notify the RCP of the death of a fellow, email munksroll@rcp.ac.uk.
Over the period of 18 August 2026 – 20 October 2026, the RCP was informed of the deaths of the following fellows:
- Arun Baksi
- Ruth Mary Leigh Warren
- Mumtaz Hayat
- Hugh Michael Saxton
- Julius Rolf Weinberg
- Gwyn Williams
- John Melville Land
- Philip Sydney Davies
