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‘Influencing the way that healthcare is designed and delivered’ is one of the Royal College of Physicians' (RCP's) three key strategic aims. The RCP works toward that aim by engaging with the government, the NHS, our royal college partners and others. Good for this to be a strapline.
The RCP works toward that aim by engaging with the government, the NHS, our royal college partners and others.
Something introductory here, I guess about our aims and structure? The RCP works on regularly changing campaigns within our main focusses of workforce, clinical transformation, and public health and prevention. Intro text roughly around this stuff to go here. We should probably mention that the focusses are approved by council/reference the way that it's legitimised etc.
The following is what was here previously:
The RCP uses policy and campaigns priorities, chosen in consultation with RCP members and RCP Council, to guide and shape its external influencing work. Given the complexity of health and healthcare, and the RCP’s mission, these priorities enable us to be effective by strategically focussing on key challenges.
We work on policy and campaigns in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. As part of the RCP Federation, we also often work with the Royal College of Physicians in Edinburgh and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons in Glasgow.
Our focusses/pillars
I have a feeling possibly we said that the 3 pillars were behind the scenes rather than public-facing. But if we did want to shout about them we could do something like this.
Workforce
We need to train more doctors and retain more of the hardworking staff we already have. Retention must be a priority, including by creating more flexible and supportive working environments, with time off for significant life events, getting rotas in good time, improved IT equipment, access to affordable and flexible childcare and time for research and teaching.
Retention must be a priority, including by creating more flexible and supportive working environments, with time off for significant life events, getting rotas in good time, improved IT equipment, access to affordable and flexible childcare and time for research and teaching.
Our workforce policy papers
Clinical transformation
The core intent behind these transformation strategies rests on a few key focus areas:
Shifting from Hospital to Community: Moving planned specialist care out of traditional, often difficult-to-navigate acute hospitals and into integrated, local neighbourhood health networks.
The core intent behind these transformation strategies rests on a few key focus areas:
Our clinical transformation policy papers
Public health and prevention
After years of campaigning on public health and prevention, the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) welcomed government making the shift from ‘sickness to prevention’ one of its three major priorities in its 10 Year Plan for Health.
After years of campaigning on public health and prevention, the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) welcomed government making the shift from ‘sickness to prevention’ one of its three major priorities in its 10 Year Plan for Health.
Our public health and prevention papersTitle if we want it
A place for further content if we want it. We could explain here what our current campaigns are if we like, but then we would have to update it each time we changed them which I don't think we want to do.
The RCP’s policy and campaigns priorities were refreshed in 2022 following consultation. Our areas of focus are the medical workforce, health inequality, clinical research and sustainability and climate change. These priorities are not intended to be exhaustive, but will underpin the strategic aim to influence the way that healthcare is designed and delivered. We are also engaging with the official COVID-19 inquiry now it is underway.
To represent the views of our members we brief MPs and Peers on the RCP’s positions across our policy and campaigns priorities. The RCP also responds to many consultations each year issued by the UK government, health regulators and arm's length bodies. If you are a Parliamentary staffer, MP or Peer and want to find out more about the RCP’s views and how the RCP can support you in your work, please contact policy@rcp.ac.uk, or read our latest parliamentary briefings.
Involving our membership
Our members are key to our policy and campaigns work and we have various ways of gathering their views. They include our annual census, other regular surveys, and being involved in our committees. If you are a member and you would like to find out more about how the RCP influences healthcare policy, please contact policy@rcp.ac.uk. Members can also contact us at the same address to discuss anything that they are currently facing or considering.
Further reading
You can find out more about what we are currently working on by looking at our news pages and policy documents.
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Public health alliances
The RCP is part of public health alliances covering some of the areas with the biggest impact on health.
