New Consultants Committee

Overview

A ‘new consultant’ is defined as an NHS consultant whose date of first appointment was less than five years ago. The Royal College of Physicians New Consultants Committee aims to provide a voice for consultants at the start of their careers.

The Committee strives to:

• represent the needs, interests, and views of collegiate members (including affiliates) and fellows who are new consultants
• present the views of new consultants to the RCP, and inform new consultants of RCP decisions and activities relevant to them
• promote the involvement of new consultants in RCP activities and provide new consultant input and advice to RCP boards, committees, and working parties.

Areas of work

The New Consultant Committee’s main focus is on helping and representing consultants in the first few years of their career, and addressing the raft of new demands and responsibilities that they face. In 2009, the Committee produced the document A tricky time, which provides detailed advice on doctors at this career stage. The document can be downloaded from the Resources page.

More recently, the Committee has been establishing closer ties with regional counterparts on the RCP Trainees Committee, and their regional advisers. This has helped to increase the level of support provided to doctors, and also to raise awareness of developing problems, in light of the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust incident.

The views of the Committee are sought by the RCP’s decision-making bodies, on matters such as NHS reform, workforce and flexible working, and the Committee is represented at a range of other groups at the RCP.

Meetings and membership

The Committee meets four times per year, and comprises representatives elected on a regional basis. Members of the Committee sit on most of the policy-making committees within the RCP, with two members representing the interests of new consultants on RCP Council.