RCGP Cymru Wales
About RCGP Cymru Wales
The Royal College of General Practitioners Wales represents a network of over 2,000 GPs, committed to improving patient care. We work to encourage and maintain the highest standards of general medical practice and act as the voice of GPs on resources, education, training, research and clinical standards
- Supporting the setting of standards and clinical guidelines for clinical care
- Delivering CPD and educational opportunities
- Representing our members at regular meetings with Ministers, senior civil servants and health sector organisation directors
- Responding to government consultations and representing GPs and our members in particular, on Welsh Government working groups
- Raising the quality of patient care through initiatives and awards
- Encouraging research in general practice to improve the evidence base for standards and guidance on best practice
- Supporting members by providing opportunities for doctors to network and share ideas
- Being a prominent partner in the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, Wales
- Produce teaching materials which are then available via our website
RCGP Welsh Council
The RCGP Welsh Council voting membership is made up of GP members from across Wales. Each of the three Welsh Faculties – North, South East and South West Wales - nominate up to three of their Faculty Board members to be representatives at Welsh Council with the Chair of each Faculty being a ‘de facto’ fourth member representative of the Faculty board to Welsh Council. In addition, each of the Faculties also appoints a UK Council representative, and these too are members of Welsh Council. There are also three RCGP member representatives appointed for specific GP groups – GP registrar, First5 and Sessional GPs. Additional RCGP members are co-opted to Welsh Council for their expertise in various areas. There are also two ex-officio members of Welsh Council, being the President of the College and the Chair of the Council of the College.
Welsh Council members give voluntarily of their time to further the objectives of the College in Wales.
The Chair of RCGP Wales is Dr Rowena Christmas.
Email: wales@rcgp.org.uk
Twitter: @RCGPWales
Welsh Council meetings take place on a quarterly basis with the Annual General Meeting normally being held in November. Observers to Welsh Council include representatives from Welsh Government, and other stakeholder organisations, including the General Practitioners Committee of the BMA, and the Royal College of Nursing. Observers are not entitled to vote.
Officers
Dr Rowena Christmas, Chair
Dr Shanti Karupiah, Vice Chair
Dr Claire Campbell, Vice Chair
Faculties:
North Wales Faculty
- Chair and Deputy Faculty Rep to UK Council: Dr Tom Kneale
- Faculty Rep to UK Council: Dr Sioned Enlli
- Faculty Rep: Prof Peter Saul
- Faculty Rep: Dr Carwyn Roberts
- Faculty Rep: Dr Hayley Jones
South East Wales Faculty
- Chair: Dr Tom De Souza
- Faculty Rep to UK Council: Dr Isolde Shore-Nye
- Faculty Rep: Dr Anish Kotecha
- Faculty Rep: Dr Claire Campbell
- Deputy Faculty Rep to UK Council: Dr Andrew Cooper
- Deputy Faculty Rep: Dr Liam Taylor
- Deputy Faculty Rep: Dr Suzanne Thickens
- Dr Claire Campbell: Faculty Rep/Vice Chair Membership
- Dr Rowena Christmas: Faculty Rep/Chair
South West Wales Faculty
- Chair and Deputy Faculty Rep to UK Council: Dr Julie Keely
- Faculty Rep to UK Council: Dr Will Macintosh
- Faculty Rep: Dr Shanti Karupiah
- Faculty Rep: Dr Anne Marie Mackintosh
Additional Members of Welsh Council
Co-opted Members of Welsh Council
- Dr Mair Hopkin, Immediate Past Joint Chair
- Dr Alistair Bennett, HEIW Representative
- Prof Adrian Edwards, Academic Representative
- Dr Cliff Jones, EoLC Lead
- Dr Alice Groves, OOH Representative
- Dr Claire Campbell, Vice Chair Membership
- Dr Ceri Todd and Dr David Miller, AMDs Group Representatives
- Dr Hayley Jones, First5 Rep
Deputy Representatives
- Dr Colette McNally, HEIW Deputy Representative
- Dr Ceri Todd and Dr David Miller, AMDs Group Representatives
Observers to Welsh Council
- Dr Ian Harris, GPC Wales
- Paul Casey, Welsh Government
- Sandy Harding, Primary Care Nursing Representative
- Dr Declan Dudley, GP registrar
RCGP Cymru Wales Leadership programme 2024
The RCGP Cymru Wales Leadership programme is due to recommence in November 2024. For information on future programmes please get in touch.
RCGP Wales leadership programme information (PDF file, 277 KB).
Deep End Wales Project
Deep End Wales was launched as a pilot in 2022 to support general practice to play its part in tackling deep-rooted health inequalities. Its work has been inspired by the progress of the Deep End scheme in Scotland which has led to many similar projects around the world. At the heart of the Deep End principle is the work of pioneering Welsh GP Dr Julian Tudor Hart and his 1971 paper on the Inverse Care Law. Deep End Wales is offering support in partnership with Welsh Government for general practices situated in the 100 most socio-economically disadvantaged areas of Wales. The key focus is on workforce, education, advocacy, and research with a commitment to finding ‘grassroots up’ solutions. The Joint Chairs for Deep End Wales are now Dr Jonny Currie and Dr Neil James. Dr Joanna Watts-Jane has also been appointed as Deputy Chair. For further information about Deep End Wales please contact DeepEndWales@rcgp.org.uk. For more information on the project, visit the Deep End webpage.
Safeguarding Peer Support Groups
RCGP Cymru Wales Chair Dr Rowena Christmas is encouraging colleagues in Wales to establish safeguarding peer support groups. These allow for open, anonymised discussion of potential patient safeguarding situations among practice teams to help deliver the most appropriate care.
A long-time advocate of safeguarding peer support groups and an expert in the field of safeguarding, Rowena has produced a checklist to start the process for forming a group.
- Connect with local practices and agree a method of sharing information relating to best practice about recognising and managing safeguarding concerns.
- Peer support groups should comprise one local area, perhaps covering between one and three cluster groups to facilitate regular virtual or face to face meetings.
- Members should include practice safeguarding leads as well as any other interested persons such as clinicians who would value discussion a case, GP trainees, foundation level doctors or medical students. Aside from a core group of members, attendance to meetings could be on an ad hoc basis.
- Confidentially is paramount so patient names and personal information should not be mentioned during case-based discussions and should be redacted from any documents used.
- Peer support group meetings should be a safe space where members can ask for advice and voice concerns without judgment.
- A supportive atmosphere is essential as the subject matter and circumstances which give rise to safeguarding concerns can be hard to listen to.
- Everyone should be given the opportunity to speak, to ensure that all members get the most out of a session.
For more information on safeguarding please see RCGP's safeguarding hub or the National Safeguarding Team.
If you would like further advice on how to become involved with safeguarding peer support groups, please contact Nicolas Webb.
Please do let us know if you are setting up a Safeguarding Peer Support Group.
RCGP Cymru Wales Schools Activities
RCGP Wales has an established history of running and supporting widening-access events for school pupils across Wales. These face to face events occur in both South and North Wales and receive the support and active participation of colleagues from both Medical Schools within Wales. The Circumstances brought about by the pandemic in 2020 resulted in a change in the formatting and delivery and saw a move to an online delivery model.
All content in this area enables those who attended to revisit the content delivered, plus anyone who couldn't join to gain access to the material. The key resources can be found below
School report 2022
Final school report March 2022 (PDF file, 631 KB)
Webinars - September 2021
On Saturday 11 September 2021, RCGP Wales hosted three widening-access webinars. Two for school students (one English and one Welsh language) and one for parents. On the day, over 230 students and parents logged on to participate in the webinars. Students attended from 70 schools across the whole of Wales. The event was facilitated by volunteers made up of practising GPs and current medical students and staff from both Cardiff University and Swansea University.
- Full Student Webinar Presentation Deck English (PDF file, 3.4 MB)
- Full Student Webinar Presentation Deck Welsh (PDF file, 4.2 MB)
- Webinar - A parent's guide to getting into medical school
- Full Parent Webinar Presentation Deck English (PDF file, 1.9 MB)
- Full Parent Webinar Presentation Deck Welsh (PDF file, 2.1 MB)
- Webinar FAQs (PDF file, 332 KB)
More resources
For the latest medical school entry requirements, please visit the Cardiff University or Swansea University websites directly.
RCGP resources:
- 5 fantastic reasons to become a GP (PDF file, 894 KB)
- Route to becoming a GP (PDF file, 1 MB)
- Reflective diary (PDF file, 2.1 MB)
- Observe GP
- Aspiring medics
Values and ethics activity sheets:
- Confidentiality (PDF file, 553 KB)
- Consultation and patient records (PDF file, 955 KB)
- Medical ethics (PDF file, 697 KB)
- NHS core values (PDF file, 1.1 MB)
Personal statement resources:
Other useful documents / videos to refer to:
- GP schools
- Transferrable skills
- GP and medical student discussion
- Do's and don'ts
- Information for teachers and career advisers
- Cardiff University guide
- Swansea University guide
Senedd Election Manifesto Calls
RCGP Cymru Wales made a series of policy calls ahead of the May 2021 Senedd elections. The Manifesto Calls document was issued directly to each of the parties and shared within the Welsh health and social care sector.
Improving GP Access
Workload pressures are very high and that impacts on how easy it is to access general practice. At its core, this is a workforce issue and can only be fixed by there being a sustainable number of GPs and their primary care colleagues in general practice. However, there are steps which can be taken swiftly to tackle the challenge of GP access which when it does not work smoothly is a frustration for patient and GP alike. We are on the same side in seeking to improve GP access.
In 2021, the College brought forward proposals which included clarity of triage, minimising the number of steps required of a patient to book an appointment, introducing online appointment booking and increasing the scope of video consultation where convenient for the patient while always ensuring that face to face consultations are available where most appropriate. You can read more about these proposals on the RCGP website.
MDT Resource
RCGP Wales and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society launched the MDT Resource on 12 February 2020.
General practice is evolving fast: GPs are collaborating closely with pharmacists and other health professionals to enable patients to access the right professional at the right time. Culture will be the ultimate driving force behind the success of the MDT model of general practice, and driving up standards and quality of patient care will depend upon professional relationships and understanding of all professional roles.
Our next steps will include the launch of a series of multi-professional learning events which would further embed the ethos of MDT collaboration into our everyday working lives.
The MDT Resource booklet is available in Welsh (PDF file, 1.2 MB) or English (PDF file, 1.2 MB) and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society will be updated with case studies and further information as MDT working evolves.
Local Faculties
In addition to a base in Cardiff, the College in Wales is represented through three regional faculty offices in:
Contact us
RCGP Cymru Wales
4th Floor
Cambrian Buildings
Mount Stuart Square
Cardiff Bay
Cardiff
CF10 5FL
T: 020 3188 7757
E: wales@rcgp.org.uk
Join the RCGP UK Member forum
Upcoming events
21 November 2024
Mental health | One Day Essentials
Primary care has a critical role in supporting patients with diverse mental health conditions. This conference will provide evidence-based information, practical advice and useful resources to help GPs support patients dealing with a range of difficulties, including depression, psychosis, eating disorders, and perinatal mental health issues.
26 November 2024
AKT Preparation Course
This one-day interactive course has been designed for those planning to take the AKT component of the MRCGP. It will assist with your exam preparation and revision for the MRCGP AKT examination, focusing on high yield and difficult curriculum topics, including the topics trainees often forget to include in their revision and help with your exam technique.
26 November 2024
Gastroenterology | One Day Essentials
Gastroenterology is one of the major medical specialties and accounts for 10% of all appointments in Primary Care. By the end of this conference, attendees will have more confidence in investigating and managing patients presenting with GI and liver problems, which will improve patient care, result in less referrals to gastroenterology services and benefit service issues around the provision of endoscopy.
27 November 2024
Telephone consulting and triage skills
This online course will provide you with a real understanding of how to manage the risks involved in remote telephone consultations and the benefits this work can bring when practiced effectively. This day will give you tools and techniques to best handle remote telephone consultations.
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