Professor Mumtaz Patel, RCP president, prefaces this edition of Commentary and shares her reflections on the pieces.
Welcome to the August edition of Commentary.
There is a wonderful range of content, covering the RCP’s work this summer – including A breath of fresh air, our report on air quality. Lead author Professor Sir Stephen Holgate talks to us about why air quality is so vital to health.
As South Asian Heritage Month comes to a close, its co-founder, Dr Binita Kane, shares her father’s story. He arrived in Britain in 1947 with just £3.50, and Binita explains how stories like his have shaped the NHS as we know it. It is an amazing, inspiring story.
Over the summer, we were delighted to have the winners and runners-up of the Excellence in Patient Care Awards join us in The Spine, the RCP’s Liverpool home. It was great to see the work that is being done by so many impressive teams. It was an opportunity to say a huge thank you and farewell to Dr John Dean, who completed his term as clinical vice president at the end of July. We wish him all the very best for a wonderful retirement. Another summer event was the Summer Garden Party in London, arranged by our fundraising team. I met some wonderful people who have kindly supported the college over many years.
In another interview, Professor Tom Solomon, our academic vice president, shares the work being done to promote more academic research – and how he has engaged the public in medical research, including running a marathon.
We also share two novel educational courses, which explore teaching elements of medicine in new and exciting ways. Dr Chris Farnham shares a course on learning difficult communication with the Royal Shakespeare Company, which looks fantastic. Another looks at teaching tropical medicine on-location in the temperate ‘rainforests’ of Dartmoor and sleeping overnight in hammocks which is fascinating.
Other updates include a Patient and Carer Network workshop, the RCP responses to the 10 Year Health Plan and an update on the great work of the Diabetes Care Accreditation Programme.
A big thank you to all the physicians, staff, patients and colleagues whose work is featured in this edition.
Professor Mumtaz Patel
RCP president (senior censor and vice president for education and training)
