Tom Baker and Catherine Powell have today been confirmed as the RCP’s interim chief executive from March. This follows the resignation of chief executive Ian Bullock at the end of 2024.
Tom’s substantive RCP role is executive director for Education and Catherine’s is executive director for Finance. From 1 March the pair will job share the interim chief executive role until a permanent appointment is made.
The recruitment process for a new chief executive will commence in early Spring. An appointment will be made following the election of a new president and independent chair of the Board of Trustees.
Tom will lead teams working in membership, the three strategy priority areas of educating, improving and influencing, plus commercial meetings and events. Catherine will oversee the strategy enabler areas of people and culture, development, finance, IT, and property services, along with the RCP’s role in the Federation of Royal Colleges of Physicians of the UK.
Commenting on their interim appointment Tom and Catherine said: “It is a great privilege and responsibility to be given the opportunity of this interim executive leadership role. Now is a critical time for the RCP as we look forward to new leadership appointments and continue to reconnect with our fellowship and membership following the events of last year.
“Our priority is to bring stability to the organisation and make sure that the needs of our membership are at the centre of all we do. We will continue to focus efforts on addressing the recommendations in The King’s Fund learning review, which highlighted the need for modernisation of our governance and processes. We look forward to actively engaging with our membership and supporting staff to deliver on this important agenda as we await the permanent election and appointment of the new clinical, trustee and executive roles.”
Tom and Catherine will start by reporting to vice president for education and training Dr Mumtaz Patel, in her acting as president role, and work closely with the senior officer team and wider Board of Trustees.
Mumtaz said: “I am delighted that Tom and Catherine have accepted this responsibility and have full confidence that they will bring stability and vision to this important interim executive leadership role.
“I want to say thank you to our outgoing chief executive, Ian Bullock, who has created a strong executive director team that I know will support Tom and Catherine, as they steer the organisation over the next important few months.”
Ian Bullock will leave the RCP at the end of March.