Scotland’s Winter Conference

The RCPsych in Scotland Winter meeting took place last week in the city centre of Glasgow.

The event saw nearly 100 members from across Scotland come together at the Radisson Blu Hotel for the first winter meeting since the pandemic began.

Key themes for the day included improving outcomes for people with a personality disorder as well as mental health professionals and the law.

A number of speakers from the College in Scotland and from stakeholder organisations gave presentations.

The day kicked off with a presentation from Dr Andy Williams, who spoke about the importance of getting things right for people with a personality disorder.

This was followed by a talk about forensic psychiatry from Dr Jon Patrick, a consultant forensic psychiatrist/psychotherapist from the State Hospital and Dr Adam Polnay, a consultant medical psychotherapist from the State Hospital and Edinburgh Psychotherapy Department.

Dr Stephen Potts then spoke about efforts to legalise assisted dying, the history of this subject in Scotland and the College’s involvement to date including work on a bill which will go through the Scottish Parliament, later this year.

Dr Arun Chopra, medical director at the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland presented on the evolving legal and policy landscape in Scotland.

Finally, Professor John Crichton, Treasurer of RCPsych and former chair of the RCPsych in Scotland, ended the day with a talk on the Scott Review of mental health law and the College in Scotland’s involvement in this ongoing work.

Both staff and members thoroughly enjoyed the day – which was an excellent start to a busy programme of Scottish conferences this year.

Back to our January 2023 eNewsletter.