Outcome of the RCoA Extraordinary General Meeting on 17 October 2023

Thank you to our members who attended the College’s Extraordinary General Meeting on 17 October. We are grateful to everyone who took the time to contribute to the discussions and to engage with the process. We apologise for the technical difficulties experienced. 

All six resolutions proposed by members were carried.

The level of support for the resolutions is significant. We have had a clear steer from our members and we will be responsive to that. Our next steps will be for our Council and Board of Trustees to consider how best to implement the resolutions.

We will begin this work urgently at our Council and Board meetings in November and December. In doing so, we will consider the views of our membership expressed through the EGM vote alongside the College’s duty as a charity to ensure we are carrying out our purposes for the public benefit.

We will also need to work closely with our stakeholders, including of course our members. We do not expect any stakeholders, including hospitals and trusts, to implement any immediate changes based on the outcome of the vote.

Thank you again to our members for their continued engagement.

Final audited number of votes for each resolution

Voting at the EGM was managed by the electoral services provider Mi-Voice using an online voting platform. Following the EGM, Mi-Voice informed us that the final audited number of votes cast for each resolution was higher than declared during the meeting. This does not affect the outcome of the voting for any of the resolutions. However, it does mean that the total number of votes cast both for and against each resolution was higher than declared during the meeting and published on our website from 17-25 October. This page was amended on 26 October 2023 to include the final audited number of votes cast for each resolution.  

Mi-Voice has told us that the reason for the discrepancy is because votes were being incorrectly cached during the EGM and therefore the latest results were not being displayed on the live results page of the voting platform. We are now working with a different supplier to manage voting at the AGM in November.

1. Member resolution on the proposed expansion of anaesthesia associates

The Council is advised to ask the Clinical Directors network to pause recruitment of AAs until the proposed RCoA Survey and Consultation is complete and the impact on doctors in training has been assessed and reviewed.

The Council is advised to ask the College Tutors (CTs) and Regional Advisors (RAs) to ensure that doctors-in-training are given priority over AAs in their exposure to training opportunities. If CT/RAs find that is not the case then they should feed this information back to the Training Department, in order that the training capacity of that hospital be reviewed.

2. Member resolution on the supervision of anaesthesia associates

The Council is advised to amend the Guidelines for Provision of Anaesthetic Services (GPAS) the Anaesthesia Clinical Services Accreditation (ACSA) and other relevant College documents to make it clear that local opt-outs from the College’s position on the supervision of AAs are not approved by the College.

3. Member resolution on information for patients

The Council is advised to ratify as a professional standard the need to inform patients, when applicable, that an AA could be involved in their care, that an AA is not a registered medical practitioner, and who their responsible Consultant Anaesthetist is.

4. Member resolution on rotational training

The Council, together with the Education, Training and Examinations Board, is advised to fully consider the personal impact of rotational training, to work with the relevant stakeholders to reduce the need for any short-term placements of under 1 year except in situations where experience cannot be gained without rotating (eg cardiothoracic anaesthesia), and to present a report on their progress at the College Tutors Meeting in June 2024.

5. Member resolution on national recruitment for doctors in training

The Council is advised to:

• make necessary enquiries in order to acquaint itself with the reasons for the delay in publishing the SIR report, and discuss its findings
• consider whether there is any evidence, on the basis of the report, that HR records were not kept clearly and accurately, whether or not adequate auditing and benchmarking systems were in place, and whether or not staff had the necessary knowledge, skills and training to carry out their roles
• consider whether or not it still has confidence in the leadership and senior management of the Anaesthetic National Recruitment Office (ANRO).

6. Member resolution on regional recruitment

The Council is advised to set up a group, together with any other stakeholders it sees fit, which may include the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, to investigate whether a centralised national recruitment centre is in the best interests of our specialty, to explore the legal and practical possibilities of recruitment at a regional level, and to present a report on their findings in due course.