RCPsych eNewsletter

January 2022

Welcome to our eNewsletter for members

In this issue we discuss mandatory vaccinations, reveal our improved HQ for members, and invite you to apply for Fellowship of the College.

LGBTQ+ survey

It’s the last chance for all members – including those who are not LGBTQ+ – to share your views in the College’s first ever LGBTQ+ survey.
Find out more about our LGBTQ+ survey

The latest from the Devolved Nations

We’ve opened booking for our joint academic conference with the Welsh Psychiatric Society and the National Centre for Mental Health.

We’ll be hosting the National Mental Health Debate for Primary Schools on 11 February on the motion ‘Does technology improve your mental health?’, this will be held in partnership with TEC Cymru.

In the Senedd, we’ve responded to committee consultations on the impact of the waiting times backlog, as well as the inquiry into hospital discharge and its impact on patient flow through hospitals. We’ve also welcomed the formal launch of a Senedd inquiry into mental health inequalities.

Read the latest news and blog posts from Wales.

Read the latest news and blog posts from Northern Ireland.

Read the latest news and blog posts from Scotland.

Other news from around the College

Our own Professor David Nutt was a guest on the BBC Radio 3 show Private Passions recently and spoke about psychopharmacology and psychiatry in addition to sharing insights into the music he loves.

Listen to the interview

We are looking to appoint CASC examiners. These are voluntary positions and an excellent opportunity to contribute to standard-setting in psychiatry, and further develop your teaching and training skills. Our new examiners will be expected to attend a Training and Assessment day in April/May this year.

The applications will open on 1 February and will close on 18 February 2022. Your involvement will mean an enhanced capacity for our exams which in turn will enable our trainees to progress in their careers. You will be able to apply on the Exams section of the College website. For any queries please contact examinations@rcpsych.ac.uk.

At the end of last year, RCPsych issued a joint statement with the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health and the Royal College of Emergency Medicine about meeting the mental health needs of children and young people in acute hospitals.

Given the increased number of children and young people presenting to Emergency Departments and being admitted to paediatric wards with mental ill health, the statement calls on clinicians from different specialties to work together more closely to meet their, often complex, needs. It also speaks to the Colleges’ ongoing work to ensure systems are in place to support this collaborative working.

Read the latest RCPsych Publishing Highlights newsletter.

Publishing news

The Psychiatrists' Support Service (PSS) provides free, rapid, high quality peer support by telephone to psychiatrists of all grades who may be experiencing personal or work-related difficulties.

Our service is totally confidential and delivered by trained Peer Support Psychiatrists (PSPs). Our PSPs are from diverse backgrounds and have received training in many different areas, to improve their understanding and ability to support all those who call the PSS.

As a service, we are aware that the difficulties faced by doctors vary enormously. We will support you through whatever they may be, including burnout, workplace bullying and discrimination, serious incidents, as well as coping with stress and change. Our support service manager and our PSPs will talk with you in confidence, without stigma or prejudice.

The service can be contacted by phone on 020 8618 4020 or by email at pss@rcpsych.ac.uk. 

What did you think of the latest edition of RCPsych Insight? Email us your thoughts to magazine@rcpsych.ac.uk, or tweet us using the hashtag #RCPsychInsight.