The college has revealed exactly what members will vote on come 31 October.
In less than a month, the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) will have its long-awaited Extraordinary General Meeting to discuss not just reforms but also the future of its president-elect.
The 30,000-strong cohort of members has borne witness to a firestorm of internal struggles amidst mass board resignations, Fair Work complaints and potential legal fallout.
This has come after alleged disagreements between the RACP board and the RACP president-elect on board composition policy, which was followed by allegations of adversarial behaviour from the president-elect.
Said allegations have been dismissed by president-elect Dr Sharmila Chandran. A public statement from the RACP was released providing further information on the allegations, but it has not yet provided evidence to support the claims.
With an EGM scheduled for 31 October, the board has released a communique to members outlining the its position on the three resolutions set to be discussed at the meeting.
The first resolution is to separate the positions of RACP president and board chair, the second is to remove Dr Chandran from the board and the third is to remove another board member, Dr Nick Buckmaster.
“I’ve experienced first-hand, the challenges that come from combining the clinical and leadership functions of the President; with the governance, monitoring and oversight functions of the Chair of the Board,” current RACP president Professor Jennifer Martin told members.
“When there is outright conflict between Directors, the Board can be paralysed in making the important, timely and rational governance decisions our management team need to keep the College functioning.
“Disagreement and debate are fine, but distracted Boards, disabled by politics and conflict, will always lead to bad outcomes.”
At this meeting, the resolutions will need to reach a 75% voter threshold in order to pass.
Per The Australian, this has come about due to the board signatories not including a formal 1000-word explanation for as to why Dr Chandran should be removed.
“I strongly feel the chair of a member organisation needs to be always a ‘member’, a member who has the best interests of members at heart and be willing to deliver for members,” Dr Chandran said on LinkedIn.
“Doctors and health professionals sit and chair boards of health organisations with much bigger budgets and complexities, why can’t they then sit and chair the board of their own member organisation?
“I strongly feel that anybody with passion and willingness to learn can do governance and yes, even physicians.”
Dr Chandran has also lodged a Fair Work Commission complaint against the college and another director with the first hearings set to begin on 14 October, according to Australian Doctor.
As reported in Australian Doctor, there is a possibility that some members will call for a second meeting – this time an ordinary general meeting – and potentially hold a second vote on Dr Chandran’s presidency.
An ordinary meeting would only require a simple majority for resolutions to pass.
Update: This article originally stated that there were two Extraordinary General Meetings; this was an error. The RACP originally set the date for the EGM as 21 November. It then split the EGM into three separate EGMs – one for each resolution – and set the date for 31 October. The 31 October EGMs supersede the 21 November EGM. The board’s most recent official communique announcing the 31 October date did not reflect this.
