The Australian Medical Council is keeping an eye on developments at the RACP as a series of member votes loom to decide on the future of the embattled college.
It comes as the college’s current president, Professor Jennifer Martin, and president-elect, Professor Sharmila Chandran, fight an intense legal battle in the Fair Work Commission, amid allegations of bullying and bad behaviour on both sides.
But the council, responsible for accreditation of medical training programs across the country, says it has been kept well informed of the crisis.
“The AMC is monitoring the RACP governance activities — the College CEO has reported early and openly about the situation,” a spokesperson told the limbic.
The long-term fallout from sustained leadership tensions that have plagued the college this year are still unknown, with four extraordinary general meeting (EGM) votes set for the end of October. The highly-contentious votes will decide:
- A proposed change to the RACP constitution to separate the roles of board chair and president of the college
- To remove Dr Chandran as president-elect of the college.
- To remove Dr Nicholas Buckmaster as a director of the college
- To remove Dr Chandran as a board director of the college.
The college has emphasised its day-to-day functions overseeing the medical education of Australian physicians have been unaffected by the conflict.
RACP president Professor Martin said on Tuesday that she was pleased that the AMC was monitoring the situation, but stressed the college’s education and training activities, including examinations, were operating as normal.
She also encouraged members to vote in the upcoming EGMs, saying governance reform was critically important for the college.
“It’s really important that members understand the risk to the organisation if we don’t complete the governance changes. We’ve been told since 2019 by multiple regulators that we need to make these changes, including having a proper professional director to chair the board,” she said.
“Our proposed changes still leave it open for the board to choose one of the physician directors, including the president, to be chair.”
A resolution to separate roles of board chair and president of the college has been backed by the current board, which argues this would address long-standing governance weaknesses within the organisation.
“The college has had nearly a decade of boardroom conflict and disruption. Separating the roles of President and Chair is a step to put the college on the path to restoring stability,” it explained in a member Q&A document last month.
The board’s no-confidence vote in Dr Chandran in August put the spotlight back on governance concerns at the college [link here]. A Fair Work Commission hearing for a stop-bullying order issued by Dr Chandran against Professor Martin has been adjourned to a later date.
The limbic asked the AMC whether there were concerns the continued governance dramas could affect operations of the college, including whether accreditation of programs could be at risk if the RACP board became inquorate.
The council said there was not an accreditation standard connected to the quorum of the board.
“The AMC can’t comment on its monitoring of a particular education provider or program,” a spokesperson said.
“The AMC monitors developments in all the education providers whose programs are subject to AMC accreditation. The AMC accreditation standards for specialist medical programs are the basis on which we accredit and monitor programs and providers.”
The Department of Health and Health Minister Mark Butler were asked whether they were prepared to intervene to ensure the running of the RACP, but did not respond to requests for comment.