My penultimate post as Chair

Time and tide wait for no man, and though the last week of my tenure as Chair is approaching fast, I have still been able to attend some truly remarkable events over the last few days.

It was lovely to make my last trip as Chairman to Scotland to celebrate the work of my good friend Ken Lawton, Chair of Scottish Council, at the end of his excellent three year term. He’s been a wonderful supporter and has really led the Scottish Council with great skill and wisdom. Ken’s gala dinner also included giving awards to deserving GPs in Scotland. Meeting the winners was a wonderful experience and it was great to talk to GPs who continue to provide extremely good care in what are often very challenging circumstances. It was also good to see Bridget Osborne and David Johnston, Chairs of Wales and Northern Ireland Councils respectively. All three have contributed to the UK College as well as their own more than anyone knows. I am pleased that Ken will continue to serve the College as Deputy Chair of the Postgraduate .
Professional Development Board

I have worked hard to ensure that we have had the very best GPs, and the very best GP organisations re-engage with the College. Indeed I hope when I stand down in a weeks time I will have left the College in a stronger place, and I am particularly pleased for example that we have been able to elect Martin Marshall, former Deputy Chief Medical Officer and GP academic, as Chair of our Ethics Committee; Val Wass, Dean of the University of Keele Medical School, as Chair of International; Amanda Howe as Honorary Secretary; Helen Lester – one of the brains behind QOF, as Chair of CIRC.

As Clare prepares to begin her tenure, Has Joshi is stepping down as Vice Chair, and I am grateful for all of his dedication and hard work. In their places, we’ve got two wonderful new vice chairs – Nigel Mathers and Janet Hall - whose injection of new energy into the team will be a great support for Clare. Not only have we managed to appoint fantastic people, but we’ve also engaged better with key organisations including our colleagues taking forward research in the Society of Academic Primary Care, and the Primary Care clinical societies.

I am a firm believer in the doctrine that in order to lead you need the best people around you, not to be surrounded by yes men who will agree with you no matter what, but those who will challenge you and make you think carefully about the decisions you make. I have taken this from the writings of Abraham Lincoln and, most recently, John F Kennedy. I think the College Council and the Officers are stronger than they’ve ever been – strong leadership is team leadership – and the College is in very good hands. I’ll say more about that in my last email which will reach you after the AGM on Friday.

Nigel Sparrow’s excellent work leading the Professional Development Board has included the educational sessions on work and pensions. So far, 2700 delegates have been trained since the workshops were launched last year, which is excellent news for Nigel, his team, the delegates and their patients.

I believe that encouraging people to stay in work, and getting people back to work quickly is good for them, their families and the economy in general. Unfortunately we haven’t managed to radically change behaviours as yet – but we will carry on encouraging the benefits of the fit note.

It's now been more than six months since the fit note was introduced and I'd like to remind GPs about the impact it can have in helping people get back to work. The fit note is an important tool that clinicians can use to provide advice to patients, and their employers, on how a health condition affects their ability to work and what practical steps might be taken to help them work as they recover. The knowledge that work is generally good for health and wellbeing has been available for several years now and it is important that we ensure our practices use the evidence and make best use of the potential the fit note has to improve the health and wellbeing of our patients. The DWP worked in partnership with the college to develop guidance for the fit note, and if you have not read it already I would recommend it to you - it can be viewed online at
www.dwp.gov.uk/fitnote

GPs interested in learning more about dealing with health and work in consultation may want to attend the RCGP 'Health and Work in General Practice' training. (Find out more and register online at www.rcgp.org.uk/news_and_events/courses__events/health_and_work_training.aspx)

I am very pleased to tell you that e-GP, the curriculum-based e-learning programme developed by the College in partnership with e-Learning for Healthcare, has won a silver award at the prestigious e-Learning AGE awards. These awards are highly regarded in the e-learning industry and the awards ceremony was held in London last Thursday. e-GP won a silver award in the category of Excellence in the production of learning content - Public Sector. Other award winners in the 'excellence in content' categories included British Airways, Marks & Spencer and Volkswagen Group. The Royal College of Anaesthetists won a bronze award for their e-LfH project.

I would like to thank Ben Riley, our Medical Director of e-Learning, Bill Reith, as Chair responsible, and the staff team for all the hard work that they have put into this project. I am often told that it is a fantastic resource for GPs, and it is wonderful that this has been so publically recognised. Ben in particular has worked extremely closely with our partners, e-LfH, as well as with all of the editors and authors who have provided the content which has been judged to be of such excellent quality.

More information about the awards can be found on the e-Learning AGE website: http://www.elearningage.co.uk/winners.aspx

Last Monday night I had the great privilege of attending the Pride of Britain Awards, for which I was on the judging panel. The Awards really are a fantastic event, recognising the remarkable achievements of real people who strive to improve the lives of those around them, and I was in awe of all of the award winners. The ceremony, hosted by Carol Vorderman was fantastic, and it would be a lie to say that I wasn’t a little bit starstruck meeting a cavalcade of famous faces.

The experience of judging the winners with Simon Cowell was surreal to say the least, but I did find myself making an unexpected comparison; he has such an incisive mind, he makes a diagnosis and he comes up with a treatment – just like a GP. Unsurprisingly, we agreed on all counts(!) It was also nice to discuss the achievements of these inspiring people with my fellow Baggies follower Adrian Chiles.

I will continue to keep you updated here once I step down from office.

My next email to you will be my last as Chairman of Council. Until then, as ever, I and the College really do value your opinions and feedback enormously, and I urge you to get in touch if you have any comments or questions for me.