Festive greetings from the RCP | Update in medicine – Cardiff

This year we opened the Cardiff RCP Update in medicine with a focus on developing better healthcare for our population right across Wales. It was a really powerful session, particularly as our GP team speakers from the Deep End project focused on health inequalities in South East Wales, which made us think about the importance of closing the gap between primary and secondary care. One delegate summed up the conference: ‘it was a perfect mix of highbrow science, grounded real-world practice, speakers with real character and wit, connecting to lovely colleagues and all in a really nice setting.’ We’ll share some key discussions from the update in January as they link well into our developing policy for the Senedd elections, where it’s clear the challenges of the NHS will be centre stage. 

We are also very proud that the RCP Med+ poster competition winner this year is working in Withybush. Dr Mohammed Salmaan Azam created a digital handover using NHS Microsoft tools – and it was all developed in a weekend. As well as reducing the time lost using ‘bits of paper’ and emails, the system can be used to generate patient activity data. 

It has been heart-warming to finish the year with a series of RCP events, including a meeting of our SAS doctors in Cardiff, where we heard really good tips for all of us on job planning followed by a trip to the Royal Glamorgan Hospital.

So a huge thank you to everyone for their commitment to these events, both the RCP organising teams and all those who participated and gave their time generously and incredibly productively. It’s been hectic but an enormous amount of fun and, despite all the challenges facing us as NHS staff, we’ve managed to smile and learn about the best of healthcare in Wales. 

New policy developments – but now we need action 

Leading up to the festive season, there has been an influx of policy developments in Wales. The Welsh government has provided a refresh of its plan for ‘A healthier Wales’ – we’re pleased to see that the priorities align with our own at the RCP but we also asked for a tangible, deliverable action plan with specific milestones for the refresh – otherwise how will we know that the policy is actually making a difference to people’s health and lives? The Women’s Health Plan has also been launched with plans for women’s health hubs in every part of Wales. We’ve found ourselves asking the same question about the need for an action plan with milestones, as well as when women in Wales will benefit from specialist established obstetric medicine services that women in England are routinely able to access.

The Welsh government has also announced its draft budget with an extra £600 million for health and social care, which will go to towards ‘cutting waiting times, improving mental health services and improving women’s health services.’ We want to see some of this investment in social and preventative community care in order to keep people well and at home in their communities – and so that doctors can make more beds available for the sickest of patients.

Westminster news: the Leng review of PAs; MPs vote in favour of assisted dying 

In Westminster, MPs voted in favour of allowing assisted dying. The RCP took a neutral stance following a survey of our members in 2019, which means that we neither support nor oppose a change in the law. But following the vote, the RCP, in consultation with its Council, will consider the issues around implementation if the bill becomes law.
 
We also welcomed the independent review of physician and anaesthesia associates (the ‘Leng review’), which has been commissioned by the secretary of state for health and social care Wes Streeting. The RCP will be contributing to the review and is committed to ensuring that we represent the range of views and experiences of our membership. What is clear is that our membership supports a nationally defined clinical scope for physician associates (PAs) and putting resident doctor training centre stage both at the RCP and in the workplace, while also respecting our PA workforce, who have found themselves in the middle of what at times has been a very toxic and distressing debate. 

The General Medical Council (GMC) has also published its report on the outcome of its public consultation on the proposed rules, standards and guidance that will govern the regulation of PAs and anaesthesia associates (AAs) now that regulation has come into effect.

Welcomes and goodbyes 

I’d like to warmly welcome Dr Fidan Yousuf (or Fi), who has been appointed by the RCP Nominations Committee as the new regional adviser for South East Wales. Fi moved to South Wales in 2005 for her postgraduate medical training and a change of scenery and never left! She developed her interest in hepatology and was appointed as a consultant hepatologist at the Gwent Liver Unit in 2018, where she also developed a patient support group. Fi is part of a national quality improvement initiative on improving standards of care in liver units across the UK. She will formally take over the role on 1 January once Vivek demits as regional adviser for South East Wales at the end of the year. Vivek has been in post for 6 years and I want to say a huge thank you to him for all his contributions to the RCP over the years. He has been a really strong advocate for his colleagues in Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, particularly understanding the challenges faced by IMT and SAS colleagues, and has been key to our growing SAS network in the RCP and Wales. Dr Sacha Moore, who is training in academic renal medicine, has been appointed to the Resident Doctor Committee, so alongside Dr Alex Burgess we will continue to have really strong representation in Wales. 

Finally, the RCP has also published a modern outpatient care guide, which stresses the need to make planned, specialist care pathways more sustainable. And if you’re an early career doctor, our new #NextGenPhysicians campaign is now live – we’re calling for a four-nation review of postgrad medical training and we want to hear from you. Please join the conversation and get involved.

I hope you all manage to have some time off over the holidays to spend with family and friends – look out for festive updates from team RCP Wales on our socials.