Meeting of Council — 3 September 2004

Chair of Council

This was the last Council meeting to be chaired by Professor David Haslam who will be standing down after 3 years in November. Council gave him a standing ovation following a vote of thanks given on behalf of Council by the President, Roger Neighbour. David will of course be working hard for the College right up until he gives his final report as Chairman at the AGM in November.

Review of Networks and Committees

Dr Mayur Lakhani outlined his plans for the review of networks and committees. There are a number of posts in networks and committees that will become vacant in November when the present Chairs complete their term of office. Full details of all posts will be sent out to Council shortly, but meanwhile, can I urge those of you who are on Council to put yourselves forward for these posts.

Vice Chairmen

Following the endorsement of his paper, Dr Mayur Lakhani announced that his two Vice Chairmen will be Dr Nigel Sparrow, from the Vale of Trent Faculty and Dr Graham Archard (a nationally elected member from the Wessex Faculty), currently Chair of Clinical Network.

The Future of Fellowship

The paper from the Fellowship Working Group to develop more specific proposals for the portfolio-based unified route to Fellowship was well received and this work will continue under the Chairmanship of Dr Philip Evans.

Motion to Council

Following a detailed debate on this motion, it was agreed that the matter be referred to CEC as to how this might be taken forward in the future.

Stub it Out Campaign — Smoking in Public Places and Workplaces Bill

I updated Council on our campaign, which has received a lot of attention. This, together with the work done by a number of our sister colleges and other key organisations, is raising awareness with patients and organisations alike. If you would like more information of how to support this initiative then please go to our website link: www.rcgp.org.uk/stubitout

Consultation on Portfolio of Evidence of Professional Standards for GPs

The first major consultation on the Portfolio of Evidence of Professional Standards for GPs is progressing well. The closing date of the consultation was 10 September and I would urge those of you who have not yet responded to do so as soon as possible. The consultation document and online response form can be found on our website at http://www.rcgp.org.uk/corporate/responses/index.asp. We hope to complete this work in the next few weeks and submit the final draft to the November meeting of Council.

Review of the GP Curriculum

Professor Steve Field, the Education Network Chairman gave a report on progress to date of the plans for the next major consultation on the Curriculum Review. Professor Field will be circulating to Council details of how they may feed into the consultation process and make suggestions on appropriate questions to pose in the formal consultation in the next week or so.

AGM and next Council Meeting

Lastly I would like to invite you all to join me at the AGM on 12 November at the Victoria Park Plaza in London. As I mentioned earlier in my letter, David Haslam will be presenting his final report as Chairman to this meeting. But of course, in addition, we have the presentation of a number of Fellowships and Awards, and what promises to be a very interesting James Mackenzie Lecture to be given by Moira Stewart, Professor of Family Medicine and Canada Research Chair in Primary Health Care from the University of Western Ontario, entitled Reflections on the patient–doctor relationship — from evidence and experience. The full programme for the day is available on the website and will be circulated to all members with the October issue of the Journal.

If you would like any further information on the matters discussed above or any other issues we covered at Council then please do not hesitate to contact me by email via honsec{at}rcgp.org.uk. I look forward to seeing many of you at the AGM.