Governance

The Royal College of Physicians is a registered charity (no 210508). It was incorporated by Royal Charter on 23 September 1518 and affirmed by an Act of Parliament in 1523. The Charter of 1518 was amended by a Supplemental Royal Charter dated 11 March 1999.

The Governing Instruments of the RCP are the Royal Charters and the Bye-Laws.

Organisation of RCP

Annual General Meeting

There is an Annual General Meeting (Comitia) of fellows, which is combined with the annual presidential election, and is held on the first Monday after Palm Sunday.

RCP officers

The senior officers of the RCP (president, vice presidents, treasurer and registrar) are all trustees of the charity. Their involvement in all the main boards and committees of the RCP ensures that due consideration is given to the RCP’s Charter and Bye-Laws on every occasion.

Board of Trustees

The Board of Trustees is the RCP’s governing body, and meets four times a year.

It is responsible for:

defining the RCP policy, agreeing the RCP business plan and monitoring the progress of RCP affairs
ensuring the safe management and custody of all RCP assets.

It has the authority to delegate any of its powers to the RCP’s boards and committees. Ultimately, all decisions apart from changes to the Bye-Laws and regulations are either taken by or on behalf of the Board of Trustees, and reported to the fellows at the AGM.

The Board of Trustees comprises:

Senior officers of the RCP (ex-officio - six)
Members nominated from Council (four)
Lay members appointed by the Board of Trustees (four).

There are two boards with specific responsibility to the Board of Trustees. They include:

Council
Finance and General Purposes Board.

Council

Council meets six times a year. Its function is to develop RCP policy in relation to professional and clinical matters, and to give authority to:

RCP statements and publications
conduct and results of the MRCP(UK) examination
elections to the fellowship and membership as well as of RCP officers.

There are four boards with specific responsibility to the Council. They include:

Clinical Standards Board
Professional and Regional Affairs Board
Education, Training and Examinations Board
Medical Specialties Board.

Finance and General Purposes Board

The Finance and General Purposes Board meets four times a year. It has responsibility for:

agreeing and monitoring the application and use of resources
monitoring the business planning process, delegating decisions on new activities to senior management within agreed financial limits
reviewing the annual financial statements with the auditors and for recommending them for approval to the Board of Trustees.

The board is chaired by the treasurer, and its membership includes the president and registrar (both ex officio), two elected members of Council, one censor, one fellow and five members from outside the RCP.

There are two committees with specific responsibility to the Finance and General Purposes Board. They include:

Trust Fund Management Committee
Legacies Committee
Heritage Management Committee.

Management

Responsibility for the day-to-day operations of the RCP is delegated to the chief executive who is accountable to the Board of Trustees. The management and staff of the RCP are structured to carry forward the work and achieve the objectives of the RCP, or to provide support services. They are ultimately accountable to the chief executive. Each department of the RCP is also overseen at a governance level by a designated officer.