RACP members fear for the college’s future, with anticipation building in the leadup to the incoming board election.
After yesterday’s blowup, concern has grown among members of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians over its ability to repair after recent events.
Yesterday’s extraordinary general meeting was marred by dysfunction, and the meeting’s constitutionality has been challenged by the board.
“The Board wishes to inform members that the validity of today’s meeting and vote is being examined after significant disruption to proceedings” the RACP board said in a statement to members.
“The meeting was not run as per our Board By-laws, and the results were not correctly scrutineered, and the Board believes the vote is invalid.
“We are seeking legal advice but in the meantime the Board takes the view that it is business as usual and that Professor Martin remains the Chair.
“Members will be further advised as the Board continues to manage this issue.”
The president-elect, Dr Sharmila Chandran, did not sign off on the statement despite her position as a board member.
Police were called to yesterday’s EGM meeting by president-elect Dr Sharmila Chandran’s husband.
A police spokesperson told The Medical Republic yesterday that police were called in relation to a “dispute between individuals in relation to a board meeting”.
The spokesperson said no one was arrested or removed from the premises and police left without incident.
Members of the college are now speaking out, with grave concern about the immediate board’s functioning but also hope for how this will drive further engagement in the upcoming board elections.
“What members want now is not more conflict or personality driven politics,” RACP member and paediatric respiratory physician Associate Professor Vikram Palit told TMR.
“The focus has to return to members, trainees and the core purpose of the college.
“My sense is that many people are simply waiting for the new board to begin and steady the ship, while many others are starting to ask whether they need the college at all, or whether it is time to consider breaking away.”
With the EGM total now up to five in the past six months, each with a $200k price tag, many members were concerned with how expensive this leadership stoush has become.
Suggestions of a hard board reset and regulator intervention have grown on social media. But former RACP board member Professor Paul Komesaroff argued that would not effectively remedy the college’s situation.
“The question now is whether any of these problems can be overcome and whether any of the damage can be repaired,” Professor Komesaroff told TMR.
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“A lot of work will need to be done to reassure the members and to draw them back into the organisation and provide opportunities for them to participate within the functions of the organisation.
“It’s not a matter of formulating abstract policies because the policies already exist.
“There’s not a matter of rethinking the governance structures because the governance structures already exist.
“I don’t believe that an intervention by the ACNC or ASIC is likely to have any chance of success at that cultural level.
“It may well be the case that physicians will increasingly be seeking alternative professional homes to the college itself.”
