This month, RCP vice president for Wales Dr Hilary Williams offers a sneak peek at what you can expect from our upcoming Update in medicine – Cardiff 2025.
A taste of what’s to come
It’s time to book your place at our annual Update in medicine – Cardiff, and I wanted to give you a taster of one of this year’s highlights – the Bradshaw Lecture 2025 will explore the world-class research programme Born in Bradford.
A recurring theme in recent discussions at RCP Cymru has been how to tackle the wicked problem of health inequalities. We are growing to recognise that many of the health challenges we face as adult physicians have their roots in childhood.
At this year’s Update in Cardiff, we’ll be hearing from Jan Burkhardt, mobilisation lead for JU:MP (Join Us: Move Play) – an ambitious, community-wide physical activity programme funded by Sport England and designed to work with children, families and local communities to help children aged 5–14 become more active.
The JU:MP programme has achieved remarkable results, improving children’s total physical activity by an average of over 70 minutes a week – believed to be the biggest such impact on children’s activity ever recorded compared to similar initiatives.
Improving children’s levels of physical activity is as much a priority in Wales as it is in Bradford, where the JU:MP programme focuses on children living in low-income and marginalised communities, using a whole systems approach that integrates community leadership, co-designs local spaces, and targets activities at specific groups (eg adolescent girls).
Importantly, this was a scientific study: over 1,500 children from multi-ethnic and socioeconomically deprived communities were directly recruited and split into two groups – one participating in the JU:MP programme and one control group. Activity levels were tracked through scientific-grade accelerometers, with movement monitored at several points over 2 years. The results are already influencing funding decisions by demonstrating the value of working with local communities to co-develop spaces that meet their needs.
Join our resident doctor open forum
Resident doctors, come along to our open forum event at the Marriott Hotel in Cardiff from 6pm on 3 December. Held on the eve of our Update in Medicine – Cardiff and organised by your RCP Resident Doctor Committee representatives, Dr Charlie Finlow and Dr Sacha Moore, this is your opportunity to help guide the direction of RCP Cymru over the coming year.
Two rapid-fire discussion sessions fostering ideas for tackling priority issues – ARCPs and GIM simulation – will be followed by an open forum and Q&A with RCP president Professor Mumtaz Patel, RCP registrar Dr Omar Mustafa and RCP vice president for Wales Dr Hilary Williams. Resident doctors of all grades are welcome. Free for RCP subscribing members and includes a hot buffet. The bar will be open afterwards for drinks, discussions and networking.
While we’re on the subject, our next generation campaign is going from strength to strength. Have you read our new next gen top 10 briefing? This sets out what resident doctors want to see change as part of postgraduate medical training reform.
Spotlight on local innovation – Wrexham Maelor Hospital
As ever, the team in Wales has been busy. We recently had a well-attended and informative visit to Wrexham, where we were delighted to welcome RCP president Professor Mumtaz Patel and RCP registrar Dr Omar Mustafa.
We had excellent attendance from resident doctors, who spoke positively about their training experiences in Wrexham but raised significant concerns about competition ratios for internal medicine training. This remains a key campaign focus for us.
Encouragingly, we heard that Health Education and Improvement Wales is increasing opportunities for specialist training to be based solely in north Wales, with access to specialist blocks in England (Manchester and Liverpool) where needed. As we all know, most people stay where they train, so giving residents a high quality and enjoyable training experience must be part of a longer-term retention and recruitment plan for our senior doctor workforce.
A huge thank you to everyone who joined us, and to the RCP Cymru team. If you’d like us to visit your hospital in 2026, please do get in touch.
SAS Week, fellowship and celebrating the team
October saw us celebrating SAS Week 2025, with thanks to Dr Tulika Porwal for sharing her career insights on RCP Launchpad. I was thrilled to celebrate with her at our recent fellowship ceremonies.
If you’re interested in becoming a fellow of the RCP, the deadline for the current round is 2 January 2026. I would strongly encourage SAS doctors who are working autonomously to apply.
I was delighted to read a BMJ piece from our regional adviser for south-east Wales, Dr Fidan Yousuf, about her experience of navigating pregnancy while training as a gastroenterology specialist registrar – impressively, completing the piece while packing for a family holiday!
Congratulations also go to Dr Sacha Moore, our Resident Doctor Committee representative, who was named September’s Health Hero by Cardiff and Vale University Health Board. The award was made following a nomination from the family of one of his patients, in recognition of his ‘kindness, care and compassion for patients and families living with kidney disease’.
A message from the CMO for Wales, Professor Isabel Oliver
‘As the winter approaches, we are all preparing for the increase in respiratory infections and the additional pressures they have on the health services that we provide to the people of Wales. As you know, vaccination is the most effective tool we have to prevent infections, and I am very concerned about the decline in vaccination uptake among healthcare professionals in recent years. Uptake of vaccination is a professional standard for doctors as part of patient safety. The flu vaccination programme started in earnest this month and I would encourage you to get vaccinated this winter to protect patients, reduce transmission in healthcare settings and maintain services.
‘Taking up the offer of the free flu vaccine reflects our shared values and professional standards across NHS Wales. If you have questions or want to learn more, speak to your colleagues or local vaccination leads. Together, we can lead by example and make a meaningful impact. Learn more about the flu vaccine.’
And finally …
Many of you will know that earlier this year I was elected RCP clinical vice president. I will continue as vice president for Wales until an election can be held for my replacement in spring 2026. And on that note, I was delighted to see that fellows voted this month to extend voting rights to collegiate members – thank you to everyone who took part in this historic ballot.
This means that from April 2026, collegiate members – most of whom are resident doctors and new consultants – will be able to vote in elections for vice presidents and councillors. Slowly but surely, we are modernising our college and how we work, standing alongside the next generation of physicians and giving them a democratic voice in the future of their profession.
RCP fellows also voted to explore options for amending the Medical Act 1860 which governs how we run presidential elections – Council will now discuss next steps for legislative change.
It’s great to see such progress. Here’s to the next 500 years!
Dr Hilary Williams
RCP vice president for Wales
