Royal College of Physicians

Home The Royal College of Physicians is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of physicians by examination.

✍️If you are interested in working with us to develop an accreditation programme in your clinical service, or have any other queries, please do not hesitate in contacting the team at accreditation@rcp.ac.uk.

Did you know in June 2025, 20 clinical services were awarded accreditation in through our programmes in:

🔵pulmonary rehabilitation
🟢immunology
🔵allergy
🟢endoscopy.

Congratulations to all the teams awarded 👏

RCP Update in Medicine - Cardiff

RCP Update in Medicine - Cardiff

This week, attendees at #RCPUpdate in Cardiff heard the latest work from across the college & from a range of excellent speakers on topics from #obesity to the Bradford project.

Thank you to everyone involved & attendees. Find your next Update in medicine conference: ow.ly/V6qU50XCIOT

RCP new member ceremony

RCP new member ceremony

We loved celebrating every physician at our new members ceremonies this week. It was an inspiring day filled with achievement, pride & well-deserved recognition.

Your success reflects remarkable commitment. Congrats to all of you – we’re excited to see the impact you’ll make next👏

RCP conference

Tomorrow we are looking forward to welcoming guests to the final 2025 #RCPUpdate in Cardiff.

As you start to keep an eye out for events in 2026 – read all about the RCP regions, and why the local perspective is so important in #Commentary: ow.ly/iQEp50XANtj

Congratulations to all of those who have been awarded the 2025 RCP medical student elective bursaries👏

Applications are currently open for 2026, learn more and apply: ow.ly/UZti50XAAAs

Public unaware of the health harms of air pollution, warns Royal College of Physicians

#Airpollution harms every organ in the body, and yet our polling shows that a third of the British public do not think it poses a health risk at all. We're calling for a government-funded public health campaign on air pollution.

🔗 ow.ly/vWFg50XANgW

Wood burning stoves could go up in smoke in air pollution crackdown Ministers have set a new target on pollution from fine particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers or less (PM2.5) to “support better quality of life and reduce pressure on the NHS.” PM2.5 ...

The revised environmental improvement plan ‘falls short of committing to a national public health campaign on air pollution’, says Professor Sir Stephen Holgate, RCP special adviser on air quality, in the @bmj.com 👇

www.bmj.com/content/391/...

Emerging women leaders programme workbook

emerging women leaders cohort

Great to see our emerging women leaders cohort for another inspiring session focused on clinical leadership, feedback and appraisal.

The programme is all about empowering future female leaders and driving positive change in healthcare.

👉Find out more: ow.ly/A8Mv50XAAMQ

Doctors talking in hospital corridor

Are you a consultant looking to strengthen leadership skills?

Join our CPD-accredited workshops to explore team culture, strategic leadership & supervision👇

👨‍⚕️Developing yourself as a senior medical leader: ow.ly/PY5J50XxoUa

🩺Leading teams and culture in senior medical roles: ow.ly/xSZ450XxoUb

The interior of a display case in exhibition 'A body of knowledge' showing a mix of open and closed books with information labels.

Have you booked our 9 Dec virtual lectures evening?
Join 3 expert speakers inspired by recent research into how we investigate the history of libraries like the collections of @rcphysicians.bsky.social.
Book👉 history.rcp.ac.uk/.../body-kno...
#BodyOfKnowledge #LibraryHistory

More details below👇

📢 Applications for the Dame Sheila Sherlock travelling fellowships in hepatology are now open.

These fellowships offer consultants and residents the opportunity to learn new techniques and gain experiences through travel and the exchange of ideas.

Learn more and apply today: ow.ly/y5OT50XyGNZ

Dr Bijan Yazdanian

‘The idea was simple: what if we split the wards geographically?’

In our latest Spotlight on local innovation think piece, resident doctor Dr Bijan Yazdanian describes quality improvement work to improve on-call ward allocations: ow.ly/grP850XyXRT

Chart

‘Government must recognise the critical role of the NHS medical workforce in this. Recruitment as well as focus on retention and workforce wellbeing is key.’

👉 Read our full response to the announcements affecting patients and clinicians made in the autumn financial statement: ow.ly/zEnf50XyxsS

Doctor talking to patient

The first module of our new e-learning series ‘Supporting the care of people living with obesity: Talking about obesity’ is now live.

This module explores how to start the conversation about weight, with patients living with obesity.

Free to #RCPmembers, book now: ow.ly/3UTW50XxmBM

📢 Don’t miss out on essential updates about our campaigning and wider developments in healthcare.

Receive expert insights and the latest news in healthcare directly to your inbox. Sign up to RCP Digest now: ow.ly/hbe250WfhHS

RCP president & RDC co-chairs met with CMO Chris Whitty & NHSE MD Meghana Pandit this week to discuss training bottlenecks, growing competition ratios & the 10 Point Plan, as well as our next gen top 10 priorities for medical training.

🔗Read our next gen top 10: ow.ly/THtq50XxlC4

Hospital corridor

A new study published in @futurehealthj.bsky.social shows that England’s elective waiting list must be cut by more than half – from the current 7.4 million to 3.4 million – to achieve the government’s target of 92% of patients waiting no longer than 18 weeks for treatment.

🔗 ow.ly/vowR50XxmUU

The @rcphysicians.bsky.social have been important allies to the #SASsix campaign.

We agree entirely with President Mumtaz Patel in her rapid response to this weeks @bmj.com article.

Bravo!

A conservator works delicately with a paintbrush on one of the RCP paintings.

The open title page of a book by Thomas Linacre.

Close up of the hand of a conservator using a brush to repair a gold leaf frame.

A rare 19th century print of 'A history of vaccination' with the word 'Jenner' large in the centre. Painted by Stephen Jenner, the nephew of Dr Edward Jenner

For over 500 years, the @rcphysicians.bsky.social has been collecting treasures of medicine – from early anatomy texts, to physicians’ portraits & rare instruments.
Through the new Adopt a Treasure campaign, help us fund the conservation of rare & significant items.
👉 www.rcp.ac.uk/support-us/p...

Rapid response to BMJ investigation: Thousands of NHS doctors are trapped in insecure “gig economy” contracts

‘Once a doctor has been employed in the same specialty by the same trust for more than two years, they should be moved to a nationally negotiated SAS contract.’

👉 Read our rapid response to a @bmj.com investigation revealing thousands of LEDs are trapped in insecure contracts: ow.ly/m9sm50XwQot

This #WorldAMRAwarenessWeek, Professor Matthew Inada-Kim, consultant in acute medicine, explains why infection management is mission critical – and how a unified, pragmatic approach can help tackle AMR and sepsis.

Read the blog on Medical Care – driving change: ow.ly/r1k450XwP1v

#WAAW

Dr Vincent Simpson & Dr Deepthi Lavu’s Pen Switch initiative is cutting waste in #diabetes care, saving 63kg of plastic & 379kg of carbon dioxide. Their work shows how clinicians can drive climate-smart care as we move toward a net zero #NHS.

Explore more: ow.ly/sU9V50WIKpP

#GreenPhysicians

Rising competition exposes flaws in specialty training selection, say early-career doctors

Aveyard and Asbridge argue that a range of barriers are creating an uneven playing field for doctors applying to enter postgraduate training ⏬

www.rcp.ac.uk/news-a...

Dr Aslihan Tapan

In our new Spotlight on local innovation series, we hear from Dr Aslihan Tapan at @buckshealthcare.bsky.social where a structured and compassionate programme is helping IMGs to settle, thrive and progress.

👉Read what has been achieved so far: ow.ly/MgoN50XsK5P

Dr Hilary Williams

‘We are not all going to go on a perfect pathway – it is a long and twisting road.’

RCP clinical vice president Dr Hilary Williams shares her carer experiences and advice in a #Commentary interview with Dr Nicola Maddox: ow.ly/fSLE50XuKWG

Did you know 1,400 delegates attended an ‘Update in medicine’ conference across the UK in 2024.

The conferences allow attendees to stay abreast of clinical advancements in medicine, develop professional skills & network with colleagues.

🗓️Discover our conferences: ow.ly/bOxG50WKjW0

Ulster Hospital visit

Ulster Hospital visit

Thank you to everyone at Ulster Hospital in Belfast for an honest & energising day of discussions.

We heard about the relentless pressures across the system – from #corridorcare, ambulance offloads & rising frailty demand. We’ll reflect today’s themes back to trust leadership.

@setrust.bsky.social

Medical Practice in Adult Learning Disability postgraduate certificate session

📘Don’t miss applying for the Medical Practice in Adult Learning Disability postgraduate certificate, developed alongside Edge Hill University.

📅Applications for the next intake close Friday 5 December, apply now: ow.ly/JQGy50Xn03Z

Six-step programme for the new consultant London cohort

Always a pleasure to welcome new leadership programme delegates - this month we hosted both Liverpool and London cohorts for the six-step programme for new consultants.

👉Find out more about the programme: ow.ly/aSjM50XtuiP