RCP showed bias in handling members’ concerns over physician associates, review finds

The Royal College of Physicians demonstrated “organisational bias” and was dysfunctional in its handling of members’ concerns over physicians associates, a damning review has found.

An independent inquiry by the health think tank the King’s Fund into the events surrounding a “painful” and “shocking” RCP extraordinary general meeting on 13 March 2024 was published on Tuesday 10 September, just a few hours before the college’s annual general meeting.1 The 45 page review found a “range of collective failures in leadership” across the college, a “clear lack of accountability and due process,” and evidence of “poor behaviours” in council meetings, including shouting and use of intimidatory language.

The review called for a major reset by the RCP and described how reputations had been damaged. The RCP Council “is not operating effectively,” decision making processes are unclear, and “more generally there is a pervasive lack of trust and confidence in its governance,” it warned.

The King’s Fund found failings in the way the …