Croeso – Celebrating SAS doctors in Wales

Shwmai pawb, It’s a great joy to contribute to SAS Week. Selfishly, it gives me the opportunity to share the fantastic achievements of many of my friends and colleagues.

‘Cynefin’ is a Welsh noun with many layers of meaning – it has no direct equivalent in English. The word conjures a very personal 'sense of place', belonging and familiarity. Our SAS colleagues are part of our family in Wales, and it’s here that I hope that they’d formed their Cynefin.

It’s the 20th year of RCPsych in Wales, and our SAS doctors have absolutely embraced that spirit.

We were delighted to celebrate this year's International Congress with so many friends – whilst the leadership of SAS doctors has been front of centre, Dr Prathap Reddy led a trafod session for members across Wales on the Practical and Clinical Issues in Assessing and Treating Adult ADHD, and Dr Noni Kamau led a session at our 20th year Academic Conference on the neuropsychiatry of exercise.

We recently held our inaugural RCPsych in Wales SAS Conference, attracting a fantastic audience, and we were grateful for the support of Dr Lily Read, who always inspires all doctors through her passion and leadership. The conference welcomed SAS colleagues from Scotland, and also served as a welcome to many of our new colleagues from Kerala in their first few weeks in Wales.

I’d wish to particularly highlight the work of Dr Alison Shaw and Dr Jacqueline Palmer who have served as our SAS doctor leads in Wales in recent times. They have made the most incredible impact, working to both raise the visibility of SAS doctors, but also to ensure that SAS doctors have a supportive community and opportunities to share learning and expertise.

One of Alison and Jacqui’s legacies in their time in post, is the establishment of an SAS network across Wales – the Network has been established to strengthen connections between SAS psychiatrists across Wales, offering a platform for collaboration, peer support, and shared learning. There’s representation across all health boards in Wales.

I continue to be inspired. diolch am bopeth – thank you for everything.