There is a great piece by the incoming ECSACOP president, Dr Chris Pasi, who I had the pleasure to meet recently in Kenya when I visited the ECSACOP annual conference and exams. On the international theme, have a look at the article by an RCP examiner doing a quality review of exams in Dhaka, Bangladesh, which is fascinating.

We have published some guidance around corridor care – which sadly has become an unacceptable situation all year round, as demonstrated by our snapshot surveys this year. Although we would never want to normalise corridor care, the guidance gives some helpful advice and support for clinicians to protect patients and staff. Dr Zuzanna Sawicka, RCP clinical director for patient safety, discusses this guidance in this edition.

Commentary also includes a piece covering the political party conferences, which we attended this autumn. There is also a piece celebrating the winners of the virtual poster competiton and an interview with our upcoming 2026 Turner-Warwick lecturers. 

The piece on healthcare and homelessness from a geriatrician and a GP is very thought-provoking. In Manchester, where I am based, this is a sad reality for many, and it is great to hear about the work being done by colleagues.

I was delighted with the post-AGM constitutional voting reform results where our RCP fellows voted to extend the right to collegiate members. This is in line with my election manifesto to modernise the RCP and make it fit for the future. It is fantastic to give our resident doctors and our new consultants a voice in the direction of the college.

In October, we had the Harveian Oration, which was delivered eloquently by Professor John Feehaly, a fellow consultant nephrologist, who celebrated pioneers and progress made in renal medicine over the last 75 years.

We celebrated SAS week in October too, and I hosted the first 'Meet your president' conversation exclusively for SAS doctors across all colleges and specialties – which was one of the first of its kind. It was very well received and was a really good discussion.

In November, we celebrated Med+ and launched the new Voice of physicians report. Med+ was a huge success and it was wonderful to meet so many colleagues and hear some amazing talks. I always enjoy the poster judging and it is one of my favourite bits of the conferences. A huge thank you to all those who submitted and presented their brilliant work and congratulations to all the winners too.

The McLachlan report was also published in November, which was the external, independent review of the MRCP(UK) Part 2 written examination error. We will continue working with our colleagues in the Federation of the Royal Colleges of Physicians of the UK on next steps.

hope you all manage to get a bit of downtime over the Christmas period. The winter pressures seem to be all year round now, but I do hope you get some time to spend with your family and friends over the festive period. Season greetings to you all. Thank you for your continued support.