Doubling trainee representation on Council
I am pleased to share with you the news that RCoA Council has agreed a process to increase representation for Anaesthetists in Training (AiT) and Fellows in Training (FiT) on College Council, which along with the Board of Trustees is one of the College’s two main decision-making bodies.
We are grateful to the Anaesthetists in Training Committee and the Anaesthetists in Training Representative Group for helping to shape our thoughts on how we will bring about an increase from two to four AiT/FiT representatives on Council. We are also grateful to our current elected AiT/FiT representatives – Dr Sarah Muldoon and Dr Rashmi Rebello – for their energy in leading these discussions.
The additional two representatives will be elected by their peers for co-option to Council – that means the successful candidates will be able to contribute fully to Council, and importantly to discussions about the specialty, but will not take on the personal and legal responsibility of running the College. This responsibility is currently taken on by elected Council members by virtue of them also being Trustees.
Additionally, in contrast to candidates for the two established AiT/FiT places, there will be no need for the two co-opted members to have completed the FRCA exams and be Fellows of the College in order to stand, opening opportunities and representation for doctors at earlier stages of their careers.
The intention is eventually to have these two additional posts as established elected, rather than co-opted, positions and the 18-month term will give us time to consolidate all four posts into our longer-term governance changes. This move will not only improve AiT/FiT representation on Council but will also allow better distribution of the workload required in being a Council member. Sarah has written a blog on being an AiT/FiT representative on Council, which I am pleased to share here. Please do give it a read as it gives a very clear idea of the work involved and the changes we’re proposing. We know this is not a perfect solution but we see election for co-option as the simplest and quickest way of achieving increased representation of AiTs/FITs on College Council, something we made a commitment to achieve some months ago. As mentioned above we hope to improve and refine this process as part of our governance review.
We will send a call for nominations for the two posts in the week commencing July 25th and expect the election process to be completed by mid-September. The appointments will be for an initial term of approximately 18 months.
President