Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) 17 October 2023 FAQs

The EGM will take place online on Tuesday 17 October and will start at 6.30pm BST.

The following membership categories are eligible to vote on resolutions submitted to the EGM:

• Fellow by Examination 
• Fellow ad Eundem 
• Associate Fellows
• Member 
• Associate Member
• Fellows in Training 
• Anaesthetist in Training
• Senior Fellows and Members Club

Anaesthesia associate members are in the Affiliate category of College membership and are therefore not able to attend the EGM or to vote. The same is true for all Affiliate members, as set out in the College Regulations (Part 3, Section2). The regulations set out the rights and privileges for each membership category including, where relevant, the right to attend, speak and vote in General Meetings.

Eligible members will receive an email from electoral services provider Mi-Voice with all the information needed to register to attend the virtual EGM or choose to exercise a proxy vote if unable to attend. The email will be sent on the 26 September from elections@mi-voice.com with the subject line 'RCoA EGM 2023: Important attendance and voting information'. Proxy voting will close on Friday 13 October 2023 at 11.59am BST.

Should the Mi-Voice email not arrive in your inbox, first check your junk/spam folder, then contact support@mi-voice.com for assistance.

Eligible members will receive an email from electoral services provider Mi-Voice with all the information needed to register to attend the virtual EGM or choose to exercise a proxy vote if unable to attend. The email will be sent on the 26 September from elections@mi-voice.com with the subject line 'RCoA EGM 2023: Important attendance and voting information'. Proxy voting will close on Friday 13 October 2023 at 11.59am BST.

Should the Mi-Voice email not arrive in your inbox, first check your junk/spam folder, then contact support@mi-voice.com for assistance.

Yes, you can vote by proxy and still attend the EGM. All eligible members are allocated a unique voting code (UVC) which is single use. If you choose to vote in advance by proxy you will also be able to attend the EGM, however you will not be able to vote again as your UVC will be marked as 'used'.

The six resolutions are set out on the proxy voting form in six separate text boxes. The name of the resolution is at the top, followed by the resolution itself as written by the proposer, a supporting statement from the proposer and a response from the College Council and Board of Trustees. For each resolution, members have the choice to vote 'For' (which means you support the resolution) or 'Against' (which means you do not support the resolution) or to abstain. 

The right for the membership to convene an EGM was an important change made at the College’s AGM in 2022, as part of the governance review. The additional power for members was proposed by the Board of Trustees and ratified by members.

The primary rule governing the requisitioning of an EGM can be found at Ordinance 5.7, which states:

The Board of Trustees shall, on the requisition of not less than 0.75% of voting members in good standing, convene an Extraordinary Meeting for such objects as shall be stated in the requisition. The requisition shall be signed by such members and delivered to the principal office of the College and may consist of several documents in like form each signed by one or more such members. If the Board of Trustees does not within twenty-one clear days from the date of delivery of the requisition proceed duly to convene an Extraordinary Meeting the members who have signed the requisition, or any of them numbering more than one-half of all of them, may themselves convene an Extraordinary Meeting but no such meeting so convened shall be held after three months from the said date. Any reasonable expenses incurred by such members by reason of the failure of the Board of Trustees duly to convene an Extraordinary Meeting shall be repaid to such members by the College.

The six resolutions proposed by the membership as part of the requisition are available on our website and in the EGM member briefing pack. 

The purpose of the EGM member briefing pack is to help members to consider the resolutions proposed and to make informed decisions. 

As set out in the College’s governance, the six resolutions proposed by members are advisory to Council, which means they are not binding on the College even if they are passed by the required simple majority. Instead, Council members and then ultimately the Board of Trustees must carefully consider the outcomes of each resolution – even those that align with current College policy – before agreeing any further action.

As the College is a charity, its Trustees have a duty to ensure delivery of its objectives while making sure the College is carrying out its purposes for the public benefit. Trustees will have to apply that principle in their consideration of the outcome of the advisory resolutions at this EGM.

The College’s charitable objects set out in our Charter are to:

• advance promote and carry on study and research into anaesthesia and related subjects and to disseminate the useful results of any such research
• educate medical and other appropriately qualified healthcare practitioners to maintain the highest possible standards of professional competence in the practice of anaesthesia for the protection and benefit of the public
• further instruction and training in anaesthesia both in the United Kingdom and overseas; and
• educate the general public in all matters relating to anaesthesia.