Over the last few years, the International Congress of the Royal College of Psychiatrists has become one of the highlights of the annual mental health conference calendar. This is so not just because it showcases the most up to date developments that are of relevance to the practicing clinician, but also because it provides a succinct overview of the basic sciences that inform those developments and a range of views from political and cultural opinion leaders about the issues that affect our day to day working life.

It is with great regret therefore, that given the current situation with the COVID-19 pandemic, we have taken decision to cancel the 2020 International Congress. This is unprecedented for the College, but we are mindful that the most important thing is the safety of all our members, patients, family members and supporters who attend the Congress every year in such large numbers. There have been extensive discussions about this with the organising executive and the college officers and there was unanimity regarding this difficult decision.

We know that the International Congress is a key event in the year for our Members, not only for updating understanding and knowledge around mental health but also for networking and catching up with old friends and colleagues. To address this to a certain, albeit limited degree, we will be providing a series of remote-learning activities later in the year. If you would like to receive further information about this please register your interest.

If you have any suggestions as to what you would like to see included in our remote-learning please do let us know by emailing congress@rcpsych.ac.uk

If you have already registered to attend the International Congress, please be reassured that we will automatically refund, in full, your registration fee via the method you made the original payment.

We hope to be back in 2021 with a programme that is bigger and better and thank you once again for your support and participation that has made this a great event for the past several years. 

Stay well and stay safe,

Lade Smith and Ian Jones, Congress Co-Chairs
Regi Alexander, Associate Dean for Advanced Learning and Conferences
Wendy Burn, President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists