RCGP 60th Anniversary

This year the Royal College of General Practitioners celebrates its 60th anniversary. There is much excitement as they are about to move into a new building in Euston Square, London and have taken a global approach to their coming annual conference, in Glasgow, in October.

Euston, we have lift-off!

RCGP ANNUAL CONFERENCE
Date: Venue: Theme: Web:	October 04-06 2012 Glasgow, UK Global general practice www.rcgp.org.uk

The Royal College of General Practitioners will be moving into new headquarters next month as part of wider plans to provide more support and services to their membership in the UK and around the world.

The new premises at 30 Euston Square, London (five minutes from Euston Station) will house the RCGP Clinical Skills Assessment Centre, a state of the art conference centre and 300-seat auditorium, two magnificent state rooms;; a Knowledge Resource Centre; a Clinical Innovation and Research Centre; over 60 meeting rooms; and over 40 study bedrooms.

The growth in demand for expert areas of the College’s work such as the MRCGP exam; its quality initiatives; cutting-edge e-learning site; and a range of courses and conferences, have seen College activity increase dramatically over the past ten years resulting in its old home in Knightsbridge becoming too small and unable to cope with the demands of a modern day GP workforce. This resulted in doctors and staff at the College being forced to work across four locations in London which also meant higher property and management costs for the RCGP.

30 Euston Square dates from 1908, is Grade II* listed, and was designed by the renowned Victorian Architect Arthur Beresford-Pite.

"The move from Knightsbridge to Euston has been funded by the sale of the College's Knightsbridge headquarters and not by increasing members' subscription rates,” says Dr Colin Hunter, RCGP Honorary Treasurer who is proud to be leading the move, “but we are obviously keen to ensure that Euston provides as many opportunities for our members as possible and we are working to expand on our 60 years of international work through the development of a Global Centre for Family Medicine".

Professor Val Wass, Chair of the RCGP International Committee, adds “RCGP international is going through an exciting period of growth as we implement our ten year international strategy and develop our Global Centre for Family Medicine. We have increasing numbers of family doctors undertaking our accredited international membership exams (MRCGP[Int]) and also participating in our continuing medical education courses delivered worldwide. This new building will help us to place RCGP international firmly on the map”.

Number 30 Euston Square is due to open its doors this autumn and you can find out more about the services it provides at www.30eustonsquare.com and also how you can get involved at www.rcgp.org.uk/fundraising. To find out more about the RCGP’s international work, including its ten-year strategy, visit www.rcgp.org.uk/international.


RCGP President Dr Iona Heath puts the finishing touches to a condenser unit at a Topping Out ceremony at 30 Euston Square

RCGP Annual Primary Care Conference goes global

Leading scientist, writer and broadcaster Baroness Susan Greenfield and a whole host of GP heroes from around the globe, are among the line-up of speakers at this year’s RCGP Annual Primary Care Conference in Glasgow from October 3-6, 2012.

This year’s conference theme is ‘Global General Practice’ and highlights include a plenary session on the role played by ’GP heroes’ in dealing with disasters, natural and otherwise, which includes speakers Professor Ryuki Kassai from Japan, Professor Dee Mangin from New Zealand, Professor Khaya Mfenyana from South Africa and Dr Samar Musmar from Palestine.

Speakers from the political world include Nicola Sturgeon, Deputy First Minister of Scotland; Sir David Nicholson, Chief Executive of the NHS (England) , taking part in a panel discussion on whether competition is healthy and Dr Anna Dixon, Director of Policy at the Kings Fund looking at public health priorities.

Professor Al Aynsley Green, former Children’s Commissioner for England will also present the Inaugural Ann McPherson Memorial Lecture which will look at young people’s health.

For the first time, the conference is being run in partnership with the Society of Academic Primary Care and the first day will be given over to research and its role in general practice.

The packed programme has been carefully put together to cater for all GPs at all stages of their careers, from Associates in Training onwards, There are also dedicated streams for practice nurses, practice managers and patients. An exciting social programme will feature a ceilidh and live bands to help celebrate 60 years of the RCGP.

RCGP Vice-Chair and Conference Lead, Dr Steve Mowle, said: “This will be a truly international celebration of family medicine around the world – as well as a celebration of the College’s own diamond jubilee and what has been achieved in patient care.

“Join us for this very exciting time in general practice and for what promises to be our most rewarding and informative conference yet.”

The full programme and details of how to register can be found online