Review of Work of Divisions (FINAL)

REVIEW OF THE WORK OF THE COLLEGE DIVISIONS

Dr Josanne Holloway, Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist

Chair of North West Division

Division Representative, Financial Management Committee

November 2009

CONTENTS

PAGE
Remit and Background …………………………………………………… / 3
The Executive Committee ………………………………………………… / 6
Autonomy and Flexibility ………………………………………………… / 7
Division Staff ……………………………………………………………… / 10
The Future ………………………………………………………………… / 12
List of Recommendations ( Annex A) ……………………………………. / 17
The College Divisional Structure (Appendix 1) …………………………. / 20
Terms of Reference ( Appendix 2) ……………………………………….. / 30
Job Descriptions ( Appendix 3) …………………………………………… / 33
Staff Numbers, Locations, Membership Population (Appendix 4) ……….. / 34
Contributors ( Appendix 5) ……………………………………………….. / 35

1.Remit:

In early 2009 the Division Chairs agreed to review the work and functioning of CollegeDivisions. With support from the Central Executive Committee, Dr Josanne Holloway, agreed to undertake the review with the active involvement and participation of all Division Chairs. This report is supported and endorsed by all Divisions.

2.Background:

The Royal College of Psychiatrists was founded in 1841 as the Association of Medical Officers of Asylums and Hospitals for the insane. The Association changed its name to the Medico Psychological Association in 1865 and to the Medico Psychological Association of Great Britain and Ireland in 1887. In 1926 it received a Royal Charter and became the Royal Medico Psychological Association. In 1971 it changed its status to that of a medical RoyalCollege.

3.The Divisions:

College Divisions have been an integral part of the organisation almost from the onset. The College held regular meetings in Ireland and Scotland as early as the 1860s. Meetings in England, outside London, date from the early 1890s. International Divisions appear to be an early development in the College with a New Zealand Division being proposed in 1928 and an Indian Division was active between 1936 and 1948.

Modern Divisions and Faculties appear to have become more established once the Royal College of Psychiatrists was established. The Divisions represent the College locally and provide professional advice where required. College members may opt to be members of the Division in which they live or work. Members can only belong to one British Division or an international Division but can belong to several Faculties and Special Interest Groups. Though members should be able to choose which Division they opt to join, the work of the Division suggests that it is advisable that members join the Division in which their work is allocated.

Each Division has elected officers (the Chair, Finance Officer and Secretary) and elected members. The Chair of each Division is an ex-officio member of the Central Executive Committee and a trustee of the College. The Chairs of international Divisions are not trustees and are represented in the Central Executive Committee by the Director of International Affairs. With the new College arrangements for international affairs in place, consideration needs to be given to representation on the Central Executive Committee.

There are currently eight English Divisions and three Celtic Divisions, which cover Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. There are also six international Divisions with the Republic of Ireland members joining the European International Division in 2009 when the College of Psychiatryin Irelandwas established. Appendix 1 provides more detail of the structure of each Division.

In June 2003 Professor McCreadie presented a review of College activities to Council. The review led to the devolution of a number of tasks and responsibilities to Divisions. Scotland and Northern Ireland have had Division Offices with administrative support since 1993. Of the English Divisions; the South West Division has had an office since 2000. Initially the office and the administrator for South West were funded by College through the University of Bristol. The first directly funded English Division Office was established in November 2004(LondonDivision)followed closely by the Welsh Division in 2005. By the end of 2007 all eight English Division offices were in operation,with premises and staff directly funded by the College.

There is an inevitable tension inherent in a devolved organisation and this needs to be addressed sensitively to ensure that staff (and members), who are some distance from the central hub of the College, feel that they are an integral part of the organisation while at the same time have enough autonomy to function effectively.

As part of the review of the CETC in 2008/9, 250 members were canvassed for their views on internal providers within College. These members were randomly selected from delegate lists provided by the Conference Office, Division Managers and the Head of the Training Unit.

Responses from members suggested that most members related to the College either through their Division or Faculty or sometimes through the Professional Standards Department. This contact was dependent on their needs and/or interests at the time.

Divisions were seen as providing members with a local professional focus, creating a sense of belonging to a local College Network and were seen as the major link into central College activities. They were seen as providing members with an opportunity to easily access information on College activities, providing an opportunity to influence College direction and strategy. They were also seen as providing education and training events with a broad appeal and of interest to different specialties within the profession and on focusing on local issues and supporting links with relevant local organisations. Some members who attend Division events did not engage in any other College educational activities, usually citing travel time and expense as the main reason behind this choice. Retired members and members working in the independent sector also appeared to favour Division events. Division events were seen as being provided at a good cost.

Divisions valued their ability to provide the training activities that their members requested and needed at a time of their choice, in a convenient location and at a cost their members’ trusts could support (or a cost that the members could fund themselves if necessary). The Divisions also valued the surpluses that they generated through their members’ fees for the events.

The members canvassed clearly supported the devolved divisions and there is a danger that they will become a victim of their own success and be unable to provide a level of service that members have come to expect and there may be a need to look at opportunities for Divisions to work with other College departments to make best use of College assets and resources.

The establishment of devolved parliaments in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, which have responsibility for much of mental health policy, has had a major impact on the work of these Divisions. The staff and officers of the Celtic Divisions carry the lead responsibility for engaging with policy makers, media and partner organisations in their countries. This has significant implications for the relationship between Policy and Communications Departments in the College and the Divisions. While there have been some changes in College structures and staffing developments in response to devolution, this remains a very important and evolving issue. The Chairs recommend that the Policy and Communications functions of the College in relation to Divisions be reviewed.

As the College continues to devolve more specific responsibilities to Divisions and the organisation and the environment in which it functions becomes more complex, Division Offices are well placed to support the involvement of ordinary members in their College’s business. This review has been undertaken at a financially challenging time and we are mindful that any developments would need to be considered in the light of College business as a whole. As Divisions are the usual point of contact with the College for a significant number of members, it is important that the Division offices continue to effectively and efficiently meet members’ needs. The Division Chairs believe that Celtic and English Division Offices need to continue to provide an environment that offers good facilities for members, excellent linkages with central College, as well as providing increased job satisfaction and development for the Division staff. There is a consensus amongst Division Chairs that any process of appraisal and development of Division staff needs to conform to the College administrative arrangements. We believe that we therefore have an important role to play in the welfare and appraisal of Division staff.

The Chairs recommend that the Director of Human Resources review the appraisal process and arrangements for time taken in lieu with Division Chairs and in consultation with the Director of Membership Relations and Division Staff to agree formal arrangements as to the role that Chairs have in the appraisal of Division Managers, Division Managers in the appraisal of Division Administrators and the arrangements for taking time off in lieu.

The Chairs’ view is that this should involve Division Chairs either being present at the appraisal or by providing a formal report to be discussed at the appraisal. The Division Manager’s Appraisal report with action points that have been agreed by the Manager and the Chair should be made available to the Division Chair to support the Divisional Managers CPD. This has been raised at a meeting with the Head of Department for Membership Relations (now the Director of Membership Relations) in March 2009, but has not yet been fully implemented.Division Chairs also recommend that Division Managers be responsible for the appraisal of Division Administrators. The appraisal report prepared by the Division Manager should then be copied to the Director of Membership Relations.

The nature of the role in the Divisions and travel requirements often calls for staff to work outside their contracted hours. The application for taking time off in lieu for any time worked in access of contracted hours needs to be clarified. The College Core hours are 8 am to 7 pm and staff working in Division can only claim time off in lieu for time worked within these core hours and only if this is equivalent to half a day i.e. 3.5 hours. Any other time worked can not be claimed back. This can usually be accommodated, however there are certain activities and times of the year when staff need to work outside these hours and for more than 3.5 hours in order to meet deadlines and service Division needs. The Chairs believe Division staff should be able to claim time in lieu for these activities.

This may also be an opportunity to review what areas of line management of Division Administrators can be devolved to Division Managers given that Division Offices are at a distance from the centre.

Chairs would hope that these discussions are undertaken without delay.

4.The Executive Committee of Celtic and English Divisions:

Some of the current Executive Committee members were also members at a time when there was little administrative support for Divisions. This wasusually provided bymembers own medical secretaries, who were given an honorarium. Some Divisions were able to negotiate more stable administrative support through one member of staff though they were notCollege employees. The current administrative arrangements are an enormous improvement. The administrative support has allowed Executive Members to focus their efforts on the key tasks of their role in the safe knowledge that all the administrative work associated with their role is being addressed effectively and efficiently. The stability of the administrative support means that committees do not need to constantly re-invent the wheel for themselves and resource material is available from earlier divisional activities as a resource for current committees. The Continuity and consistency brought about by a common resource function allows the executive to be effectiveand efficient when dealing with College, local and members’ issues. This improved service to and for the wider membership has led to members bringing more issues to the Division Executive Committees, an expectation to be consulted on relevant College business and an expectation for the Executive Committee to become involved when local professional issues or difficulties arise.

Executive Committees function in a broadly similar manner with a similar membership comprising of elected officers (chair, secretary and finance officer), elected members (at least 4 elected members and the Education Training and Standards Representative), ex-officio members and locally appointed co-opted members. Each Division varies in whom it co-opts onto its Executive Committee including Faculty representation,which differs depending upon how many “regions” are covered by each Division, as well as whether it is the Faculty regional representative who is co-opted or a separate College member.

TheChairs recommend that dependent on what roles the elected officers and members undertake, the following areas should be covered when considering other members to serve on the Executive Committee.

  • Regional Advisors and/or Deputy Regional Advisors
  • CPD co-ordinator
  • PTC Representative
  • Affiliate Representative
  • Academic Secretary
  • Head of School ( We recommend that if the Head of School cannot sit on the Committee that there are established and close links developed between the Executive Committee and the School of Psychiatry)
  • Faculty and Section Representatives (We recommend that where possible one or more regional representative also holds the role as an elected member on the Faculty or section- for example the regional representative. We also recommend that where the representative is not the regional faculty representative that the Faculty Chairs are advised)
  • Medical Manager (identified through discussion with the College Medical Director Executive)
  • User and/or Carer Representative
  • Division Manager

The review team had difficulty identifying job descriptions for all members of the Divisional Executive Committee. The job descriptions we were able to locate are included in Appendix 3. With the exception of the Immediate Past Chair, the Chairs recommend that job descriptions should be in place for all of these members. Where a job description is not available we would recommend that one is drafted by the appropriate College Department and agreed with members currently holding that post.

The review team had difficulty identifying the terms of reference for the Division Executive Committee. The Chairs recommend that the terms of reference which have been agreed with and supported by all the Division Chairs and included in Appendix 2 are agreed by the appropriate College committee.

5. Autonomy and Flexibility:

As Divisions continue to develop and mature, the Division Managers’ and Administrators’ roles and job descriptions need to be flexible, to allow for the role to develop and to allow for any differences that may arise between one Division and another. Division Managers need sufficient flexibility and autonomy to manage their divisions efficiently and effectively. The Chairsrecommend that the College centrally work with Division chairs and their Managers to agree areas where the Executive Committees and their Managers can have more autonomy, while continuing to maintain a corporate identity and work within the established College structures.

The administrative work attached to Division Offices is labour intensive, particularly for Division officers covering two Divisions and/or covering a large geographical areaand/or covering specific initiatives such as a training programme. The work load varies greatly over the year, increasing significantly around Academic Conferences, fellowship nominations, clinical excellenceawardsapplications and business planning time-tables.

Large geographical areas bring with them significant challenges on how to provide a local service for all members. With the exception of London Division which although having the largest membership population is a much more compact area, most Division Offices cover large geographical areas with large membership populations. Not all Divisions have their Division office located within their boundary. The office covering West Midlands and Trent is based in Birmingham; the office covering North West, and Northern and Yorkshire Division is based in Leeds, West Yorkshire. The office covering South East and Eastern Divisions isn’t located in either Division Boundary but is located in East London on the CentralCollege estate.

Utilising the College estate in London has its advantages, particularly for members living and working in London as it is accessible to its members and has easy access to other College resources. However, members in South East and Eastern Divisions want their meetings to take place within their Division boundaries and which doesnot require unnecessary travel by Division Staff and members. Other Divisions which share Division offices experience problems around creating a local bond between the office and the local members. North West and Northern and Yorkshire Division Office has had some success in encouraging members located in Manchester and parts of Lancashire to travel to the Division office in Leeds but in the main most of the members who visit the office and use it for meetings or forwork purposes tend to be from Yorkshire and the North East.