
## **Annual report and accounts 2022–2023** 


Charity Registration Number 223106 

Scottish Charity Registration Number SC040430 




## Contents 

|Introducton|1|
|---|---|
|Our vision, purpose and values|4|
|Actvites and achievements during 2022–23|6|
|Environmental Social Governance|22|
|Reference and administratve details|41|
|Independent Auditor’s report|48|
|Consolidated statement of fnancial actvites|52|
|Balance sheet|53|
|Consolidated cash fow statement|54|



**ii** 

RCGP Accounts 2023 




## Introduction from the Chair of the Trustee Board and the Interim Chief Operating Officer 

## Professor Mike Holmes, Chair of Trustees (Foreword to the report) 

The ongoing crisis in general practice has dominated College work this year. I see this first hand in my own practice in York and whilst it is dispiriting, I am confident that the College is in a robust and excellent position to lobby Government and policy makers to secure a better deal for general practice and our members. 

I am pleased to report that we have delivered the commitments set out in the 2019-22 Strategy ‘Putting members at the heart of everything we do’. 

Last year was the 70th anniversary of the RCGP which enabled us to reflect on the achievements of our founders.  Their passion and spirit established the College as the home of general practice, leading to increased recognition of the importance of the profession and significant improvements in standards of patient care.  We aim to honour their passion and commitment with ambitious objectives set out in our new strategy ‘Building a Sustainable Future for General Practice’. 

I would like to thank the Executive Management Team and College staff across the UK for their outstanding contribution.  I would also like to thank my fellow trustees for their continuing commitment to raising standards and their insight and challenge which serves us so well. 

Finally, thank you to our members for your inspirational work and support. You are the heart of the College, and we will continue to work hard on your behalf. Things will get better. 


## Professor Kamila Hawthorne, Chair of UK Council (Foreword to the report) 

I was honoured and delighted to be elected Chair of UK Council in November last year.  I was as clear then as I am now in my commitment to do everything I can to represent the views of frontline GPs across the UK at such a challenging time for general practice and the NHS. 

Across the UK, GPs are continuing to leave the profession faster than they enter it and members are under enormous strain.  Capacity in general practice just does not match patient demand, especially after the 

RCGP Accounts 2023 

**1** 



Introduction 

effects of the pandemic, and societal challenges caused by the cost-of-living crisis and political uncertainty have added to the pressures which are taking their toll on the health of our patients – and our GP teams. 

Our patients deserve excellent care, and our members deserve to work in an NHS that is appropriately funded, that values and supports them to do the best job they can and that protects their own health and wellbeing. 

The College is consistently making the case for positive changes to address the crisis, set out in our vision for the future of General Practice ‘Fit for the Future’, and many of our ‘asks’ have now been listened to and are being actioned. However, the fundamental problem of there being far too few GPs is still a glaring issue for Primary Care. 

Alongside the workforce crisis there is a crisis in health provision for the most vulnerable.   Tackling health inequalities has long been a personal priority for me and I am proud to see this included as a priority in the new RCGP Strategy. 

While the next few years will undoubtedly continue to be a tough environment for general practice and our patients, your College will continue to support you and advocate on your behalf at the highest levels of government, right across the UK. I want all politicians to appreciate the work that GPs do: the importance and quality of the care we deliver to our patients, and the immense contribution we make to the wider NHS. It is very likely that general practice (and the NHS) will be a battleground for the next General Election in 2024, so we are getting our stall ready to influence, lobby and advise where and how we can. 

This report sets out the broad range of activities we do that make RCGP the professional home for general practice.  I would like to thank all our members (AiTs, Members and Fellows, both UK and International) for your continued commitment to the College, our profession, and everything you do to support and care for your patients. It is a privilege to be your Chair and I will work my hardest to reverse the hard slog of general practice and make being a GP a fulfilling, stimulating and enjoyable career once again. 


## Mark Thomas, Interim Chief Operating Officer (Foreword to the report) 

Since the departure of our Chief Operating Office in January 2023, I have had the pleasure of being appointed the interim staff lead in the College.  Our staff feel an immense sense of pride – in supporting our members and general practice and I would like to thank them for their contributions. 

We have adjusted well to a post-Covid working model.  Hybrid working provides significant flexible working opportunities and is now standard practice throughout the College. 

Online events are enabling more members to participate and this is improving member engagement. Our Faculties are delivering more events, our members can access resources including lobbying for action to address the workforce crisis, and we now have over 700 member volunteers supporting College activities, which is a tremendous addition to our work. 

In addition to delivering the wide range of objectives in the final year of our current strategy, we have stepped up our campaigning work and are implementing our new Member Value Proposition, creating a clear line of sight between our work and the value of being a member of the College as the ‘professional home’ for GPs. 

**2** 

RCGP Accounts 2023 



Introduction 

We have also put sustainability principles into action and will carry these through into our new strategy for 2023-2026.  Good examples of our commitment include our work to establish the Net Zero Hub for primary care and new remote assessment arrangements for the new clinical component of the MRCGP examination which have been widely welcomed. 

Our new Fellows, Members and award ceremonies across the four nations at national and faculty levels are a fitting showcase for the inspirational work our members do, and it has been a pleasure to join a number of these.   Whilst the operational environment remains challenging, it is important to celebrate those who work tirelessly to advance general practice. 


**3** 

RCGP Accounts 2023 




## Our vision, purpose and values 

The Royal College of General Practitioners was founded in 1952 and granted a Royal Charter in 1972 with the objective: 

_“To encourage, foster and maintain the highest possible standards in general medical practice and for that purpose to take or join with others in taking any steps consistent with the charitable nature of that object which may assist towards the same”_ 

## Our vision 

Excellence in general practice for patients worldwide. 

## Our purpose 

To promote the best possible quality of health and healthcare for the population by: 

- Setting the highest standards for general practice. 

- Ensuring that GPs have the best possible training. 

- Supporting GPs throughout their professional lives to deliver the best possible service. 

- Leading the profession and demonstrating the value of general practice. 

- Developing general practice as the foundation of effective and sustainable primary care worldwide. 

- Using resources efficiently to support our members and develop the College sustainably. 

## Our values 

Our core values are set out in our People Plan: 

**Compassion** – for our patients, the populations we serve, our members, our colleagues and ourselves. 

**Inclusivity** – we value diversity as part of our community and treat each individual with equal respect. 

**Sustainability** – we look to the future and care about the long-term wellbeing of our members, our profession, our patients and the world around us. 

**Accountability** – we take responsibility for the results of our actions and continuously strive to be the best that we can be. 

**Integrity** – we are honest, open, ethical, just and fair. 

RCGP Accounts 2023 

**4** 



Our vision, purpose and values 

## Public benefit 

The College provides public benefit, and the advancement of health and of education, through: 

- Developing professional standards which help to ensure that patients are treated by fully trained, competent general practitioners. 

- Encouraging professional development by developing and providing educational resources to enable general practitioners to maintain and develop their skills. 

- Support to individuals as general practitioners; and 

- Promotion of the profession as fundamental to integrated primary health care. 

The Trustees have referred to the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit when reviewing its aims and objectives and in planning its future activities to ensure that the activities the College undertakes are in line with its charitable objects and aims. 

## Strategic plan 

_**‘**_ This is the final year of the strategic plan 2020-2023 Putting members at the heart of everything we do’ and the report provides a summary of this year’s work against each of the four main objectives: 

- Deliver practical solutions to tackle workload pressures and sustain and equip GPs to provide the best possible patient care. 

- Develop the College into a dynamic and inclusive membership community. 

- Promote the contribution of general practice and the role of the GP. 

- Ensure members place a high value on their College membership. 

Work has now started on the new strategic plan 2023-2026 ‘Building a sustainable future for general practice’ which has four priorities: 

- Tackle the workload and workforce crisis 

- Ensure the College is the professional home of General Practice 

- Reduce the increasing gap in health inequalities 

- Respond to the climate emergency 

This Trustees Report also sets out how we have implemented the principles of good governance and ensure sound financial management of our resources. 

RCGP Accounts 2023 

**5** 




## Activities and achievements during 2022–23 

## Introduction 

The worsening crisis in General Practice has been a regular feature in the national media.  This, coupled with an unprecedented level of change at the top of Government (3 Prime Ministers and Health Secretaries in the year), has made for a challenging political environment. Accordingly, our work supporting members, promoting and defending hardworking GPs and their exceptional contribution has been a major part of our work his year. 

Significant progress this year has been made on the development of a new Member Value Proposition and exam to replace the Recorded Consultation Assessment. 

This is the final year of the current strategy which evolved against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic. Its legacy and lessons learned are being reflected in the development of a new strategy for 2023-26 

## Deliver practical solutions to tackle workload pressures and sustain and equip GPs to provide the best possible patient care. 

## Our objective 

By 2023 members will be able to access a range of practical resources to tackle workload pressures and deliver relationship-based care in new ways; and that the College will be the first port of call to meet members’ professional development needs. 

## To achieve this aim we are: 

- Providing a one-stop-shop for CPD throughout a GP’s career, enabling them to record and reflect on their learning journey and to access high-quality CPD resources. 

- Developing solutions to support GPs and their teams in implementing key elements of RCGP’s Fit for the Future vision document, such as continuity of care and the digitally enabled practice. 

- Working with practices to monitor workload and how it is impacted by new ways of working, including through the development of the Research and Surveillance Centre’s workload observatory. 

- Working with partners to develop new qualifications in family medicine for international doctors, and for UK-based members of the wider primary care team. 

RCGP Accounts 2023 

**6** 



Activities and achievements during 2022–23 

## Progress and achievements: 

## _GP Training_ 

## _GP Specialist Applications_ 

The number of trainees completing training in 2022 (calendar year) was 3247, compared with 3213 in 2021. 

Certificate of Eligibility for GP Registration (CEGPR) applications (for doctors from abroad wishing to work in the UK), dropped from 25 in 2021 to 16 in 2022.  Changes to the Medical Act have now been laid in parliament which will enable more flexibility in CEGPR pathway options from November 2023.  There were 22 Portfolio Route applications for doctors returning from abroad. 

Combined Training (trainees combining previous medical training and experience with GP training) applications have increased significantly, with 221 applications received from August 2022 starters (178 in 2021). 

## _MRCGP_ 

To become licensed to practise as a GP in the UK, doctors must pass the College’s MRCGP examination, comprising: 

- The Applied Knowledge Test (AKT). 

- The Recorded Consultation Assessment (RCA) to test a trainees’s ability to integrate and apply clinical, professional, communication and practical skills appropriate for general practice. 

- Workplace-Based Assessment (WPBA). 

In 2022–23, candidates sat 6,236 AKTs and 4,791 RCAs. 

The RCA was introduced in 2021 at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic to replace the Clinical Skills Assessment which required attendance at an exam centre.  In February 2022 RCGP Council agreed to develop a new Clinical Skills Assessment and significant progress has been made.  This major programme has involved developing provision for a new IT platform, a role player service extensive stakeholder engagement and piloting arrangements.  Work continues with the GMC to enable adoption by the end of the year. 

## _MRCGP International_ 

We are continuing partnerships to offer MRCGP[INT] accreditation in Cyprus, Dubai, Egypt,  Kosovo, Kuwait, Malta and the entire South Asia subcontinent covering Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. In addition we have: 

- Agreed a 5-year Co-operation Agreement with the Government of Kosovo supporting collaboration on the development of postgraduate assessment. 

- Delivered joint online events as part of our strategic partnership with World Health Organisation (WHO) and agreed a new 3-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with WHO. 

- Delivered the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office’s (FCDO) Better Health Programme in Vietnam and Thailand. 

- Developed and piloted a mentoring scheme in partnership with the Christian Medical College (CMC) Vellore enabling RCGP volunteers to deliver training and mentoring for those choosing family medicine as a speciality in India. 

- Delivered online training for the Beijing Huatong Guokang Foundation (BHGF) in China reaching an average of 50 student doctors. 

RCGP Accounts 2023 

**7** 



Activities and achievements during 2022–23 

## _Revalidation_ 

We presented a case to College Council, informed by our members, to support a new simplified model of appraisal focussing on wellbeing and reducing the burden for GPs, and developed new support around this. 

## _Professional Pathways_ 

The ‘Leadership Pathway’ eLearning course has received exceptionally positive feedback from members and has been accessed by over 1,577 individuals since its launch last summer. 

The course supports the recently launched Northern Faculties ‘Shaping the Future Programme’ which offers group facilitated sessions, action learning sets and other opportunities, such as networking with local leaders and shadowing executive Faculty Board members.  Our aim is to work with local Faculties to establish a national RCGP leadership offer. 

## _Membership Programmes_ 

Some notable successes from our work this year include: 

We held a series of focus groups and listening exercises across the College to better understand the needs of International Medical Graduates (IMGs) who make up a third of our membership. Engagement has been incredibly high, and the insight gathered will now help to shape the development of a college-wide programme aimed at better supporting IMG members, 

RCGP Mentoring was implemented in February 2021 with the aim of being the primary ‘digital’ channel for members to provide professional peer support to one another. We are reviewing the initiative to strengthen the career support it provides our members. 

We have been developing a new Fellowship application system. User testing concluded in February, with an intended launch in April 2023. Several improvements have been made so the process is candidate led with simplified information requirements.  We will monitor the changes which are intended to increase the number of members applying. 

Since 2020 there has been a concerted effort to improve the diversity of fellowship applications and we are pleased to announce that positive movement.  Since 2020, 47% all fellowship applications have come from women (currently 29% of fellows are women), 36% from BAME members (currently 15%), and 20% from IMGs (currently 10%). 

Work is under way on a ‘career companion’ for GPs so that RCGP is the go to source of career support and information for members. This aims to provide practical support to confidently navigate career pathways. We are developing a series of career case studies that provide insight into the breadth and diversity of career options and will be published in Summer 2023. 

## _Monitoring Workload_ 

The College has consistently monitored and analysed NHS Digital appointments and workforce data over the last year, which has helped us to respond to and generate a range of media attention on the impressive work being delivered by GPs. We have recently created a ‘key stats and insights’ page on the RCGP website to highlight these and College work tackling the workload crisis. 

## _Covid Resource Hub_ 

The Covid-19 Resource Hub contains comprehensive resources to support GPs and the wider practice teams. It is freely available to anyone accessing the RCGP Online Learning Environment (OLE).  The hub has been maintained and updated over the year with fewer newer resources added as the focus of primary care has shifted from crisis management. More resources and information has been added related to vaccination programmes. 

**8** 

RCGP Accounts 2023 



Activities and achievements during 2022–23 

## Develop the College into a dynamic and inclusive membership community 

## Our aim with this priority: 

Our aim is that by 2023 more members will be engaged in the College and its work, and that RCGP will be recognised as a responsive and inclusive organisation that better reflects the diversity and dynamism of the profession. 

## To achieve this aim we are: 

- Supporting our Faculties to increase member engagement through implementation of the RCGP Faculty Strategy. 

- Creating new opportunities for members to engage with the College digitally, including the College’s MyRCGP App and online communities of interest. 

- Providing better support and pathways to enable more members to become fellows and replace Membership by Assessment of Performance (MAP) with a more inclusive alternative for established GPs. 

- Removing barriers to member participation and improving information and support to members taking on College leadership roles. 

## Progress and achievements 

## _Membership_ 

As of 31 March 2023, membership stands at 54,777 compared to 54,269 for the same period last year – an increase of 0.9%. 

The total number of new members joining since 1 April 2022 is 5,057 compared to 5,180 for the same period last year – a decrease of 2.4%. 

Overall, leavers stand at 5,650 compared to 6,655 for the same period last year – a decrease of 15.1%. 

The overall retention rate is currently 89.9% for this point in the year. 

## _Annual Conference_ 

The 2022 RCGP Annual Conference took place in London during 29 June – 1 July 2022 at the Excel Centre in London.  It was held in conjunction with WONCA Europe (the World Organisation of Family Doctors). 

This was the largest ever conference hosted by the RCGP: 2,467 delegates attended in person with a further 324 attending remotely. 1,501 delegates came from the UK and overall 76 countries were represented. 88% of delegates rated the quality of the programme as ‘good’ or higher. 

In addition, we held a free-to-member one day online conference on 27 October 2022 around the theme ‘A Vision of the Future of General Practice’. 1,222 delegates attended. 96% said their objectives were met at the conference, and 98% rated sessions as ‘good’ or higher. 

## _Conferences and Events_ 

This year we organised over 520 Member events across the UK reaching 14,791 members. 63.7% of these events were free to members.  71% were held online and 25% were held in person. 

These events consist of a mix of CPD, wellbeing, member and student engagement and MRCGP Preparation courses for our GP Trainees. 

**9** 

RCGP Accounts 2023 



Activities and achievements during 2022–23 

## National events included: 

- 19 One Day Essentials conferences on topics including Learning Disabilities, Mental Health, Neurodevelopmental Health, Men’s Health, Sexual Health, and Women’s Health. 

- Three Essentials Webinars Series on Management of sexually transmitted infections in primary care, Gender-affirming care, and Diagnosis and management of Hepatitis B & C. 

- 11 of the ever-popular Telephone Consultation & Triage Skills courses 

- A webinar ‘All that coughs is not Covid’ 

- Three Boehringer Ingelheim funded webinars and a one-day conference on diabetes, heart failure and chronic kidney disease. 

- Two Thermo Fisher Scientific funded webinars on Gastrointestinal disorders: management of IBS in primary care and Investigating painful musculoskeletal presentations in primary care. 

- Two Seqirus funded webinars on Flu season 2021/22: Lessons learnt and what to expect for 2022/23 and Challenges of influenza post COVID-19. 

- Pfizer-funded series of three webinars on osteoarthritis 

- Livi-funded a webinar on remote cancer diagnosis 

- A fully subscribed inaugural Level 3 Adult & Child Safeguarding course 

- Successful reintroduction of Minor Surgery entry-level and refresher courses in London, Birmingham and Liverpool 

## _English Faculty events_ 

- Essentials Webinar Series covering topics such as ophthalmology, gastroenterology, pathology, Effective out of hours practice, Dermatology and Common oral health problems in Primary Care. 

- A successful inaugural One Day Essentials conference on Sports Medicine and Hot Topics in General Practice 

- Local events on ENT, Child refugee health, Child mental health, and Mental health capacity 

- Recorded Consultation Assessment (RCA) and Applied Knowledge Tests (AKT) preparation courses. 

- 60 wellbeing events to provide a space for GPs to focus on their self-care, including online art workshops, cookery classes and social walks and cultural visits. 

- 28 innovation events that enable Faculties to explore local interests and develop programmes of work, including conversations about greener practices, health inequalities and equality, inclusion and diversity in the workplace. 

- 92 development events, enabling GPs to grow their professional skills and to form peer support networks, including face to face career conferences collaborating with training hubs, webinars discussing career options and career transitions, including preparing for retirement. 

- 73 engagement events, enabling GPs to connect with each other, share experiences and form supportive links with their Faculty, including a series of local family fun days to allow GPs to socialise and celebration dinners to mark RCGP’s 70th anniversary. 

## _RCGP Northern Ireland events_ 

Over the last year we held 23 events in total, 11 of which were clinical and 12 professional development. 

Our events included: 

- menopause, 

- palliative care and paediatrics, 

- cardiopulmonary resuscitation which was expanded due to demand. 

**10** 

RCGP Accounts 2023 



Activities and achievements during 2022–23 

- Practice finances, 

- AKT preparation, 

- A highly successful First5 Conference and 

- A rolling programme of wellbeing events. 

## _RCGP Wales events_ 

We delivered 38 events for Welsh members. These included: 

- CPD events including the one day joint injection course, 2 day minor surgery course, interpreting lab results, Safeguarding, Alcohol Misuse, Dementia Care and drugs misuse. 

- Meet and Connect with First 5s event 

- A Health Inclusion event 

- Care Navigation at the GP Reception to support practice staff 

- The Annual Schools event ‘So you want to be a doctor’ promoting General Practice as a career to school pupils 

## _RCGP Scotland events_ 

We delivered 37 events for Scottish members. 

- CPD highlights included: minor surgery and joint injections in general practice, dermatology as an extended role in Primary Care and a practical guide to diagnosis and management of endometriosis. 

- A series of events entitled ‘Greener GPs’ with topics such as the benefits of climate mitigation & greener respiratory care. 

- An event series named PortrAiT aimed at bringing together local trainees to hear from a range of speakers. 

- A range of events for practice staff to equip them to deal with the pressures they are currently facing including dealing with complaints and emotional situations at reception. 

- An annual lecture series for the Scottish faculties providing an opportunity for local members to connect with peers and celebrate local success. 

- The annual Welcome to First5 event, supplemented by a series of local in-person meet and connect events allowing trainees the opportunity to make connections with their peers. 

## _Digital Engagement_ 

The new RCGP website was launched in July after months of planning and consultation with members. The new site is compatible with phones, iPads and other mobile devices and there are significant improvements in digital accessibility. 

We have hired a Social Media and Communities Manger who has reviewed our social media work to date and has begun working with teams across the College to provide more cohesive and member friendly social media content, tailored to each platform and in line with RCGP brand guidelines. 

We have replaced the Weekly Digest email to members with a fortnightly Chair’s message and ‘Faculty fortnightly’. By dividing these two emails the scroll distance has been reduced dramatically allowing members to reach the content most of interest to them much faster. 

RCGP Accounts 2023 

**11** 



Activities and achievements during 2022–23 

## _Online Learning Environment_ 

The aim of the OLE is to be the “place to go” for a GP’s CPD.  During this year, it has continued to grow with nearly 160,000 registered users – an increase of almost 10% from the previous year. 

There are over 17 Learning Hubs, 375 resources including eLearning courses, bite-sized screencasts and podcasts, Essential Knowledge Updates (EKU) and Challenges and Hot Topics which enable members to test their knowledge of given topics. 

There are now over 6,000 regular visitors to the site each month – up from 5,000 last year. The monthly EKU Hot Topics have been accessed by over 29,200 unique users since their launch and the podcast channel had over 490,000 listens, averaging 341 per day. 

## _RCGP Accreditation_ 

The RCGP Accreditation scheme assures our members that external CPD training they access is of the highest quality, and to the standards the College expects. From April 2022 to the end of March 2023, we accredited a total of 7 courses with just over 60 hours of learning overall. We have 23 applications currently in the process of accreditation, and a further 13 planned. 

## _Membership Pathways_ 

From May 2021 any GPs who have been on the GMC GP register for a minimum of five years and have completed at least one revalidation cycle (or completed CEGPR) are now eligible to apply for membership via a new, inclusive route advertised on the RCGP website. 

## _New Member and Fellowship Ceremonies_ 

We’ve been proud to host a full year of New Member and Fellow Ceremonies in 8 locations across the UK. We’ve welcomed over 3,000 members and their guests to 12 sell-out ceremonies.   We have integrated national awards into the ceremonies which celebrate the inspirational achievements of our hard-working members with excellent feedback. 

## _Volunteers_ 

We celebrated National Volunteers’ Week 1-7 June. This week-long campaign is our opportunity to extend our gratitude to our 700+ volunteers who give their time to support the College as representatives, advisers, trustees and office-holders. 

Now in its third year, our Inspire Awards celebrate the annual achievements of our advocates and volunteers across the country.  From 140 nominations, over 50 members were shortlisted in 16 categories. 

## Promote the contribution of general practice and the role of the GP 

## Our aim with this priority: 

Our aim is that by 2023 members feel that because of the College’s efforts, the contribution of general practice and the role of GPs and their teams are more highly valued by patients, the public, politicians and opinion formers.  We would also like to see general practice as the preferred destination for more students, doctors and other trainees and professionals considering their career options in the NHS. 

## To achieve this aim we are: 

- Delivering a member and patient-led campaign to celebrate the value of general practice and promoting appropriate and sustainable use of the health service. 

- Holding government and NHS decision-makers across the UK accountable for delivering the increased investment and workforce numbers that general practice needs. 

**12** 

RCGP Accounts 2023 



Activities and achievements during 2022–23 

- Developing the College as the go-to source of information and guidance about general practice as a career. 

- Championing the contribution of general practice by hosting the 2022 WONCA Europe Conference. 

- Maintaining the MRCGP as a world-class professional licensing assessment and work with educators and trainers in the UK and internationally to support medical students and trainees into the profession and beyond. 

## Progress and achievements 

## _Celebrate the Value of General Practice_ 

Our work continues to be dominated by the worsening crisis in general practice and workload pressures facing our hard working members.  Our media strategy is designed to help the public understand these pressures, the pivotal role of general practice to the success of the NHS and the models of care needed to ensure the highest standards for our patients. 

Research commissioned to assess the reach of our work shows we generated 13,084 media mentions in 2022. Monthly volume peaked at 2,069 articles in June. We carried 9,190 items on the internet. 

## _Investment and workforce numbers - holding Governments to account_ 

There has been with an unprecedented level of change at the top of government over the last year, with three different Prime Ministers and three Health Secretaries taking up office.  Despite this, our policy and campaign teams across the UK have continued to use every possible opportunity to lobby for change and influence government to provide better resources and support for general practice. This includes the launch of a major ongoing ‘Fit for the Future’ campaign calling on politicians and NHS leaders to commit to a radical new plan addressing the workforce and workload crisis. 

Our current and previous Chairs – Professor Kamila Hawthorne and Professor Martin Marshall – have directly made the case for this plan to each of the Secretaries of State for Health and Social Care and Ministers with responsibility for primary care through a wide range of letters and successful meetings. They have also met with the shadow cabinet counterparts, Wes Streeting and Feryal Clark on the scale of the workforce challenge and Labour’s plans and attended a Health and Social Care event organised by the Liberal Democrats and chaired by Daisy Cooper MP. 

Highlights of our work include: 

- In June 2022, we launched a new report and campaign: ‘Fit for the future: A new plan for GPs and their patients’. This set out the biggest challenges facing our members and the key solutions required from the Government, which we shared with all MPs in England. 4,623 GPs signed our subsequent open letter to the then Health Secretary (Sajid Javid). The report received widespread press coverage, leading to around 150 hits in regional and online outlets. The story was also discussed on flagship media programmes. We also hosted successful subsequent events at both Labour and Conservative party conferences on the campaign. 

- We continued to lobby the Home Secretary to change the rules for all trainee GPs from overseas to stop them facing threats of deportation at the end of their speciality training.  This included launching a report ‘Fit for the Future: Opening the door to international doctors’, highlighting the experiences of our IMG members, and sending an open letter signed by 4,367 GPs and 157 letters from the public. We had 7 meetings with MPs on this issue and had 8 parliamentary questions tabled about visas for international doctors. This helped to secure a commitment during parliamentary debate from Home Office Minister to consider umbrella bodies to sponsor GP visas. 

- Over a very challenging winter in 2022, we ran a survey of our members to identify the key issues they were facing, which fed into a report launched in March 2023 highlighting the severe pressures GPs are under. We have facilitated 1600 GPs and supporters (as of early April 2023) to write to their MPs to raise these issues and to call on the Government to implement our proposed solutions 

**13** 

RCGP Accounts 2023 



Activities and achievements during 2022–23 

through their upcoming GP access recovery plan and Long Term Workforce plan. Our report also inspired 14 Parliamentary Questions from Feryal Clark, the Shadow Minister for Health and Social Care. 

- Launched a policy report ‘Fit for the Future: Retaining the GP workforce’ providing evidence, analysis and solutions to the current workload crisis.  The report was featured on the BBC Newsnight programme and helped to stimulate a review of all retention and recruitment initiatives by NHS England. 

- Submission of oral and written evidence to the Health Select Committee (HSC) inquiry on the future of general practice. Following Martin Marshall’s oral evidence in March 2022, in June, Margaret Ikpoh, our Vice Chair for Professional Development, spoke on the role of GPs in multidisciplinary teams, the partnership model, GP workloads and the extent to which education prepares new entrants for new models of general practice. The subsequent report from the HSC reflected many of our recommendations, which we were able to publicly welcome. We have also presented evidence to the Committee’s expert reference group reviewing the Government’s promises regarding the NHS workforce. 

- Launched a new policy report on ‘The Power of Relationships’ exploring the change levers that can embed and strengthen the relational elements of care within the modern general practice landscape and making a number of key recommendations. We hosted events with key stakeholders to push for these to be implemented. 

- Made the case for general practice at the No.10 ‘NHS Recovery Forum’ chaired by the Prime Minister in January 2023, attended by Kamila Hawthorne. 

- Continued high level engagement with CQC on concerns we raised on regulatory inequalities faced by ethnic-minority led practices and to try to make the case for proportionate regulation overall. It has since announced two reviews into its culture and practices to understand whether race or other protected characteristics have an impact on how it treats information of concern. Our work also helped to contribute to the announcement from the CQC that it would be reducing its inspections temporarily to help support general practice through current pressures. 

- Submission of evidence to an initial information request as part of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry summarising the role of RCGP and our views of lessons to be learned for the UK healthcare systems. 

- Submission of evidence to the Public Accounts Committee and Hewitt Review on the introduction of Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) with a strong message not to lose the voice of general practice and ensure sufficient support is provided. 

- Continued engagement with NHSE over their Accelerating Citizen Access to GP Data programme to ensure sufficient time was given to enable guidance to be disseminated to practices.  In October 2022 we published a response alongside the BMA, which helped to secure some further flexibility in the timeline for implementation for practices. 

- Lobbying through the Destination GP campaign led to increased Government funding for medical student placements to achieve parity in funding between primary and secondary care. 

- Influenced the implementation of the Health and Care Act, which received Royal Assent in April 2022. 

- Inclusion of the ‘triple aim’ making specific reference to tackling inequalities, requiring NHS England to issue clearer guidance on how NHS bodies should collect, analyse and publish information on inequalities in access and outcomes. 

- Commitment that NHS Guidance would stipulate that every Integrated Care Board (ICB) should have a primary care representative. 

- Telemedical abortion care introduced as a temporary Covid-19 measure will now be a permanent arrangement. 

- Ongoing lobbying to ensure that ICSs take a supportive approach to general practice. 

RCGP Accounts 2023 

**14** 



Activities and achievements during 2022–23 

## _Devolved Council Policy and Campaigning work_ 

Health and Social Care is a responsibility of the devolved administrations.  RCGP Scotland, RCGP Northern Ireland and RCGP Cymru Wales led policy and campaigning work within their health sectors.   The following sections report the key achievements this year. 

## _Scotland_ 

The Officer team Dr Chris Williams, Dr David Shackles, and Dr Catriona Morton have led campaigning work around the urgency of action to retain GPs in the workforce and to improve data collection methods to accurately report on general practice workload and workforce. Our policy report ‘Retaining our GP Workforce in Scotland’ was published in November. It led to extensive media coverage across Scotland and featured on BBC Reporting Scotland. 

The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, Humza Yousaf welcomed the report and met with the Joint Chairs to discuss the issues and made a visit to Dr Shackles’ practice to see first-hand the reality of frontline general practice. In January, Dr Chris Williams attended a Scottish Labour Emergency NHS Roundtable, sharing the strain GPs are under and promoting both short- and longer-term solutions. 

Reducing drug related harms is a policy priority in Scotland and this year we shared the UK wide statement on this with decision makers and met with Paul Sweeney MSP to support his Member’s Bill on reducing drug deaths, notably by establishing overdose prevention centres. We continue to sit on the Scottish Government’s National Mission on Drug Deaths Oversight Group and to deliver the Certificate in the Management of Drugs Misuse course to support primary care professionals based within Scotland help and care for people affected by drug use. We also lodged a response on behalf of RCGP UK to the Home Office consultation on new consequences for drug possession - ‘Swift, Certain Tough’ - in which we made the case for an evidence-based approach to drug policy based on public health principles. 

Work on the priority area of climate change and sustainability has continued. We hosted the second roundtable on reducing the environmental impact of prescribing, which was attended by the Chief Medical Officer, and continue to lobby and meet with Government to encourage more action on improving energy efficiency of primary care premises. 

To promote the direct connection between tackling fuel poverty and improving public health, we worked with Maurice Golden MSP to lodge a motion to the Scottish Parliament. This year we wrote a joint letter with the Deep End Steering Group and Energy Action Scotland to the Government, calling on greater action to protect the health of those living in cold homes. 

This year we have responded to 25 consultations including: 

- The new Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy 

- The Scotland Climate Emergency and Sustainability Strategy 

- Abortion Services Safe Access Zones Bill 

- The Health Social Care Strategy for Older People 

- NHS Scotland Once for Scotland: Work Life Balance 

Following these submissions, our Joint Chairs gave oral evidence in the Scottish Parliament on the Long Covid inquiry, the Patient Safety Commission Bill, and the National Care Service Bill. 

Briefings were provided to members of the Scottish Parliament ahead of several key debates including supporting the NHS in winter where we set out the primary care perspective. During the debate our work on Out of Hours Services and our call for a national conversation to ensure patients know how to use the NHS sustainably in these pressured times was acknowledged. We also briefed ahead of a Health and Social Care Committee debate on alternative pathways to care, two Scottish Government debates on the National Mission on drugs, one on tackling stigma and another on the response to the Drug Deaths Taskforce Changing Lives report, and two Scottish Labour debates on protecting primary care. 

Work has continued around improving the interface between primary and secondary care. An ideal model of a well-functioning Interface Group has been developed and we continue to advocate for the same 

RCGP Accounts 2023 

**15** 



Activities and achievements during 2022–23 

support to be available to all groups in Scotland. Funding was secured from the Scottish Government to continue to deliver the successful Leadership for Integration programmes which are designed to support participants from primary and social care to work in collaboration within the context of Health and Social Care Integration. 

## _Northern Ireland_ 

Over the past year the Chairs in NI, formerly Dr Laurence Dorman and now Dr Ursula Mason, have been pressing decision-makers for urgent action to prevent further destabilisation of general practice which has seen 13 practices make the difficult decision to hand back their contracts in the past year alone.  Against an extremely difficult financial situation we have been successful in retaining last year’s increase in training numbers, and reassurances on the QoF workload for GPs this coming year.  In addition, engagement with the Permanent Secretary at the NI Department of Health, Health Minister and General Practitioners Committee secured a £5.5million rescue package for general practice in October. 

Our May 2021 Northern Ireland Assembly Election manifesto, ‘A prescription to treat the crisis in general practice’ underpinned our lobbying work, which included a hustings event for members and a supporter action resulting in 250 members writing to local candidates. 

Post-election, we have continued to express our disappointment at a lack of political progress and the severe impact this is having on GP pressures and wider healthcare provision. Working jointly with BMA colleagues to convene an emergency roundtable we brought the five main political parties together to discuss our key asks and this resulted in a joint political statement to the Permanent Secretary backing our requests. Most recently we are working with other medical Royal Colleges to secure an urgent meeting with the Permanent Secretary to resolve the crisis. 

Between April 2022-March 2023, RCGPNI achieved 80 unique pieces of media coverage across TV, radio, print, and web. In addition to our high-level media coverage at a local level our coverage also extended to national media and print. An interview with Dr Mason was featured on Channel 4 evening news and our joint call with the other Royal Medical Colleges for the formation of a NI Executive was featured nationally in the Guardian and Evening Standard. 

Ensuring the views of our members are represented to public policy stakeholders, we have responded on their behalf to Department of Health consultations on key topics including Advanced Care Planning, the Review of Urgent and Emergency Care Services, Violence and Aggression in the workplace, Minimum Alcohol Unit pricing, and the Autism Strategy 2023-2028. 

## _Cymru Wales_ 

Our priorities over the year have been to act as a strong voice for general practice and to reduce health inequalities, in particular the establishment of Deep End Wales and safeguarding peer support. 

RCGP Cymru Wales Chair, Dr Rowena Christmas has met regularly with the Welsh Health Minister, and both spoke at a relationship-based care event at the Senedd in November which has led to on-going engagement.  We have also met with individual MSs to discuss pressures on rural general practice and the expansion of Parkrun. 

We have provided evidence at a number of Welsh Parliament Health Committee enquiries including, the NHS backlog, an evidence session on mental health inequalities and Mental health in higher education. 

Key meetings with other health sector leaders have included the following topics: 

- The launch of ‘Our Health Our Knowledge’ – a health literacy resource 

- A Dementia diagnosis roundtable 

- Regional Partnership Board engagement 

- Samaritans Impact Report launch 

We have responded to consultations on 

- Library protection standards 

RCGP Accounts 2023 

**16** 



Activities and achievements during 2022–23 

- Mental Health inequalities 

- The treatment backlog 

- End of life care during the pandemic 

- NHS Wales Planned care plan 

Deep End Wales had its formal launch in November with over 30 practices represented. This is a major project and significant resource has been invested in the project scoping and initiation.  The key priorities for the programme have now been agreed for further expansion and development over the next 18 months. 

## _Shaping clinical policy_ 

RCGP continues to deliver a wide range of work to shape clinical guidance and pathways which impact primary care. Key highlights of our work include: 

- Worked with our Clinical Adviser Network of over 100 volunteer GPs to respond to 23 responses to key clinical consultations including the DHSC AMR action plan, NICE consultations on cardiovascular disease, fertility issues, UTIs, alcohol use disorders, diabetes and QoF indicators. 

- Collaborated with DHSC, RCOG and BMS to shape the national Women’s Health Strategy, a College menopause statement and a statement on the supply shortages for Hormone Replacement Therapy. 

- Worked with NHS England to improve guidelines on direct access for GPs to investigations pathway and arrangements for referrals. 

- Successfully lobbied NHS England to ensure the roll-out of advice and guidance in England is not mandatory for GPs to deliver. 

- Developed guidance for our members to support Long Term Conditions management during the pandemic recovery period and to try to help reduce health inequalities. 

- Highlighted member feedback to NHS England on the roll-out of new lipid treatments and pathways. 

## _Research and innovation_ 

The RCGP Research and Surveillance Centre (RSC) collaboration with Oxford University has continued to play an important role contributing data analytics through its network of approximately 1,900 practices, covering one third of the English population. Work with the UKHSA has examined community levels of respiratory viruses such as SARS-CoV2, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus. As in previous years, the data collected has also looked at vaccine efficacy and been used to inform government and international policy. 

The RSC and the College have continued to play integral roles in supporting the vital urgent public health clinical trials PRINCIPLE, PANORAMIC and RAPTOR.  The PRINCIPLE platform trial was extremely important worldwide as it tested 7 different repurposed medications as acute treatments for COVID-19 and is the largest community treatment trial globally.  The RCGP has had an important role in the ongoing PANORAMIC trial. This platform anti-viral trial is the fastest and highest recruiting investigational trial ever, worldwide. 

This year a new Research Engagement Hub, funded by the School of Primary Care Research, was published on the college website, which reflects the myriad of ways and career points that General Practitioners can become involved in research. 

The College continues to have successful collaborative relationships in the research sector, including with NIHR and SAPC, and we have delivered joint awards such as the Outstanding Early Career Researcher and Research Paper of the Year. 

The work of the Scientific Foundation Board has continued into its 46th year.  Sixteen applications were received in this financial year, with three Practitioner Allowance Grants of up to £2000 being awarded. Three Annual Grants, amounting to £65,000 in total, were awarded to researchers based in Sheffield, 

RCGP Accounts 2023 

**17** 



Activities and achievements during 2022–23 

Cardiff and Edinburgh.  Additionally, funding and support continued for a further 14 grants, and 17 grants were completed.   A study into the impact of the Scientific Foundation Board is being completed under the supervision of the Chair of the Board, Professor Richard Neal. 

We also completed a major update to the GP Online Services toolkit (formerly the Patient Online toolkit) to strengthen support for practices preparing for automatic access by patients to GP records. We also worked on a project with Amazon Web Services looking at digital technology and the potential health inequalities implications. 

_Developing the College as the go-to source of information and guidance about general practice as a career_ 

We provide advice and guidance on the RCGP website for those seeking a career in general practice and practical advice for practicing GPs, late career and retired GPs and those seeking to return to general practice. 

We support the GP Society Partnership Network (SPN) which provides a forum for GP Societies to connect and communicate with each other. So far, the Network has 29 GP Societies affiliated, spread across all four nations of the UK, including brand new GP Socs from Norwich and Buckingham. We held the annual GP Society Summit in November with 41 students joining us in London. The students attended sessions such as ‘Meet your faculty leader’ increasing awareness of the benefits of being involved and ‘Events 101’ where they were able to share their experiences of running events. 

The annual Discover GP  conference is an online event, with a mixture of workshops, plenary sessions, and near-peer networking. Registrations for the 2023 conference totalled 112, with 41.96% attendance. The overall satisfaction score for the event was 8/10, and over 70% of attendees feeling positive about joining the GP workforce. 

_Championing the contribution of general practice by hosting the 2022 WONCA Europe Conference_ 

WONCA is the World Association of Family Doctors. This not-for-profit organization was founded in 1972 and now has 132 Member Organizations in 110 countries and territories with membership of about 500,000 family doctors. RCGP won a competitive bid to host the prestigious WONCA Europe conference which was held in June 2022 in London.  The event combined with the RCGP annual conference to attract 2467 delegates with 76 countries represented. 

_Maintaining the MRCGP as a world-class professional licensing assessment and work with educators and trainers in the UK and internationally to support medical students and trainees into the profession and beyond_ 

The MRCGP is an integrated assessment system, success in which is one of the main requirements for a doctor to satisfactorily complete general practice specialty training. 

There are three components to the MRCGP: 

- An applied knowledge test 

- A clinical assessment 

- Workplace based assessment 

The GMC has approved a new Simulated Consultation Assessment (SCA) to replace the Recorded Skills Assessment (RSA) introduced to enable remote assessments during Covid. 

The purpose of the SCA is to assess the GP trainee’s ability to integrate and apply clinical, professional and communication skills appropriate for General Practice, whilst demonstrating and achieving the underlying principles of Good Medical practice in that: 

- Patients are kept safe; 

- GPs can be adaptable in treating different types of patients and illnesses; 

- GPs can manage risk, medical complexity and uncertainty; 

**18** 

RCGP Accounts 2023 



Activities and achievements during 2022–23 

■ GPs exhibit appropriate behaviours, at udes and concerns for their patients. 

The new arrangements mean trainees can be assessed remotely in a GP surgery and recognise  the complexity and variability of GP consultations, with many factors interacting in unpredictable ways. Detailed briefing and awareness material has been developed and can be found on the RCGP website. 

## Ensure members place a high value on their College membership 

## Our aim with this priority: 

By 2023 we want to improve member satisfaction levels and the retention rate among all member grades. 

## To achieve this aim we are: 

- Enhancing our CPD offer and streamlining our in-house CPD delivery to drive improved integration and efficiency. 

- Investing in our online presence and digital engagement and making better use of data to provide members with a more personalised service. 

- Improving our business planning and supporting our staff to work more effectively so that they can provide the best possible member value. 

- Developing new income-generating activities aligned to our values and mission, including establishing the College as a leading provider of consultancy advice in primary care development. 

## Progress and achievements 

## _Enhancing our CPD offer_ 

Partnership funding of CPD has expanded our offer with the launch of RCGP’s Net Zero Learning Hub, new resources on primary care to police officers, and additional module on health inequalities – to mention a few. 

## _Digital Transformation_ 

The new website was successfully launched in July.  Separately, we have achieved significant cost and energy usage efficiencies through a major cloud adoption programme for our IT infrastructure. 

Improvements have been made to online exam booking arrangements to improve the trainee experience and resilience of the systems. 

## _Member Value Proposition_ 

Our Member Value Proposition (MVP) ‘Your Professional home’ campaign is transforming member communications with the aim of improving awareness of the benefits of membership. 

During the year work has enabled teams to better tailor services and communications to each career stage and community. 

Tools to support volunteers and College advocates promote the benefits of membership are also in development. 

We also aim to improve awareness of what the College is doing on behalf of members in raising concerns and issues at the highest levels of government. The Chair’s regular message to members now includes this as a regular feature and we have introduced a new ‘Faculty Fortnightly’ bulletin giving faculties an enhanced opportunity to promote their work locally. 

**19** 

RCGP Accounts 2023 



Activities and achievements during 2022–23 

## Further to this: 

- Members received a new ‘welcome pack’ as part of their renewal in February 2023, complete with a refreshed look and feel, with clearer and more emotive information about the value of College membership. 

- Refreshed membership webpages, containing newly developed MVP messaging, and targeted information for each grade of membership have been developed. 

- Recent changes to the College’s Members’ Forum aim to increase awareness and usage. A new thread has been established for International Medical Graduates (IMGs) for example. 

- An ‘MVP Playbook’ is in development. The resource is due for completion in Spring 2023 intends to support staff and key College advocates to communicate our MVP. It will include tools to adequately answer questions such as why should I be a member? 

- We’ve undertaken a ‘deep dive’ into 4 substantive areas including the College’s CPD offer, the cost of membership, our international proposition, and developing a multi-disciplinary offer. 

## _Business Planning and Supporting Staff_ 

We are running a hybrid working model for our staff following a period of remote working during COVID The arrangements are regularly monitored and feedback shows this flexibility is working well for staff. 

We continue to engage our staff in a variety of ways and to identify areas of the employee experience in the College which need improvement. Wellness and wellbeing, and professional growth are ongoing priorities. 

We were delighted to be the winner of the 2022 International Engage Award for the category of ‘Best use of the voice of the employee’. This recognised our efforts to keep staff motivated and engaged during the pandemic. 

Unite the Union is the RCGP Official Representative Body and a Staff Association organises regular opportunities for staff to give important feedback to inform development of support initiatives. 

## _Primary Care Development_ 

The RCGP consultancy programme, Primary Care Development, continued to experience strong interest in services following the resumption of inspections by the CQC. 

Developmental work has focussed on meeting the new support requirements of Integrated Care Boards in addition to significant work to put in place a new sustainability consultancy for practices in partnership with NHS Greener Practice. 

The Primary Care Quality Improvement (PCQI) project team continues to deliver on QI projects TARGET, QOF QI, QUICK and GP Excellence for NHSE/I. 

## _The Personalised Care Institute_ 

The Personalised Care Institute (PCI) has continued to grow at a rapid rate, expanding the training offer for health and care professionals to deliver excellent personalised care. The PCI website now hosts over 100 resources, including 16 free eLearning courses, over 70 accredited training courses, a growing number of recorded educational webinars and podcasts and revolutionary ‘Virtual Patient’ simulated consultation learning tools. 

As at 31 March 2023 over 58,000 forms of learning had been completed through the PCIs learning platform reaching just short of 40,000 healthcare professionals, including over 9,500 GPs. This is a significant increase over 2022 take-up, where the total number of healthcare professionals trained sat at 7,608 at March 2022. 

A further encouraging development was the first ever PCI personalised conference which took place virtually in June, attracting over 450 delegates. 

**20** 

RCGP Accounts 2023 



Activities and achievements during 2022–23 

## _MDE Project Management Office (PMO)_ 

The PMO manages a portfolio of programmes and projects that concentrate on the development and establishment of educational resources, tools and guidance to enhance and develop the skills of healthcare professionals to support positive patient outcomes. 

In November 2022 the College commenced a new 3-year programme of activity, funded by NHS England, to expand our offer to upskill GPs and practice staff on how to support Veteran patients. The Veteran Friendly GP practices accreditation scheme has 1985 practices signed up to the initiative as at 31 March 2023. 

Nearly 1600 practices have signed up to the Daffodil Standards, a free, evidence-based framework to help practices to consistently offer the best end of life and bereavement care for patients. 

The PMO are leading a project to improve GPs and their team’s understanding and responsiveness to the identification and management of people with gambling problems via the delivery of eLearning, a hybrid full day event and the implementation of a practice accreditation programme. 

The Active Practice and parkrun practice initiatives continue to grow in numbers with 250 and 1700+ practices signed up respectively. The team continue to forge partnerships focussing on physical activity to promote the benefits of being active. 

## _Marketing_ 

The marketing team has expanded its remit, offering greater support to the promotion of our products, events, services and resources to members, driving increased awareness and engagement. 

The team have undertaken the development and launch of our new Member Value Proposition campaign, which aims to further strengthen our connection with members and promote an increased awareness of the value of membership. This launched as the basis of our 2023/24 member renewal campaign. 

The team continues to support promotion of our commercial outputs: Annual Conference, RCGP Jobs (including advertising), eLearning, primary care development services, clinical projects, conferences and events, and RCGP Plus (providing added value to members, including financial support via our wellestablished arrangement with Wesleyan). 

## Future Plans 

A new RCGP Strategy for 2023-2026 ‘will be launched around the theme _Building a Sustainable Future for General Practice_ .  Following extensive consultation, four key priorities have emerged: 

- Invest in our members’ professional future 

- Tackle the workforce and workload crisis 

- Support practices to engage with patients and communities and tackle health inequalities 

- Respond to the climate emergency 

**21** 

RCGP Accounts 2023 




## Environmental Social Governance 

## Environmental Sustainability and Carbon Reporting 

RCGP is committed to providing leadership in the decarbonisation of General Practice and our own organisation. 

The College undertakes work relating to climate change and sustainability in three areas: 

- Supporting GPs and practices to improve their sustainability and reduce emissions. 

- Lobbying governments and decision-makers to deliver change. 

- Taking direct action as a property owner, landlord, employer and purchaser. 

In 2019 we disinvested from fossil fuels and our investments are now held in a sustainable fund. 

In 2021/22 we added solely fossil fuel powered vehicles, and air flights to other products such as tobacco and alcohol that we will not promote or advertise. 

## Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting 

|**UK Greenhouse gas emissions and energy use**<br>**data for the period 1 April 2022 to 31 March**<br>**2023**|**Current**<br>**reportng year**<br>**2022/23**|**Comparison**<br>**reportng year**<br>**2021/2022**|**Baseline Year**<br>**2019/2020**|
|---|---|---|---|
|**Scope 1 Direct GHG emissions**<br>Gas combuston /tCO2e<br>F-Gas losses<br>**Scope 2 Energy indirect emissions**|611.22<br>0|560.77<br>107.25|557.39<br>0|
|Purchased electricity /tCO2e (locaton-based)|203.59|217.53|342.07|
|Purchased electricity /tCO2e (market-based)|17.20|–|–|
|Total gross Scope 1 & Scope 2 emissions /tCO2e<br>(locaton-based)|814.82|885.55|899.46|
|Total gross Scope 1 & Scope 2 emissions /tCO2e|628.42|885.55|899.46|
|(market-based)||||
|Energy consumpton used to calculate above|4,401,244.17|4,086,119.51|4,372,699.24|
|emissions /kWh||||



**22** 

RCGP Accounts 2023 



Environmental Social Governance 


**----- Start of picture text -----**<br>
UK Greenhouse gas emissions and energy use  Current  Comparison  Baseline Year<br>data for the period 1 April 2022 to 31 March  reporting year  reporting year  2019/2020<br>2023 2022/23 2021/2022<br>Scope 3 Other indirect emissions<br>**----- End of picture text -----**<br>


|Water|3.91|3.12|16.93|
|---|---|---|---|
|Business travel – fights|56.48|10.01|681.25|
|Hotels|3.68|2.24|18.10|
|Business travel – train|14.60|7.07|94.57|
|Business travel – rental cars or employee-owned|7.43|2.58|18.68|
|vehicles||||
|Homeworking|62.00|–|–|
|**Total Scope 1, 2 & 3 emissions (locaton-based)**|**962.92**|**910.58**|**1728.99**|
|**Total Scope 1, 2 & 3 emissions (market-based)**|**776.52**|**910.58**|**1728.99**|
|**Intensity rato tCO2e (gross Scope 1 + 2)/ FTE**|**3.45**|**3.75**|**3.81**|



Gas usage in the reporting year was higher than the previous year (2021–22) and the baseline year (2019– 20). This increase was due to faulty Fan Coil Units (FCUs) in our headquarters at 30 Euston Square (30ES), leading to an increase in gas consumption for the gas boilers. Consequently, the total Scope 1 emissions have increased. The FCUs are currently being fixed. 

Electricity consumption in our headquarters was lower in the reporting year compared to the baseline year. The reduction in electricity usage is attributed to a decrease in the average number of staff present in the office per day due to homeworking arrangements. No space was let to tenants in the year, further reducing occupation and electricity use. 


**----- Start of picture text -----**<br>
Electricity Consumption Comparison Gas Consumption Comparison<br> 140,000  450,000<br> 120,000  400,000<br> 350,000<br> 100,000<br> 300,000<br> 80,000  250,000<br> 60,000  200,000<br> 150,000<br> 40,000<br> 100,000<br> 20,000  50,000<br> -  -<br>Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar<br>2019–2020 2020–2021 2021–2022 2022–2023 2019–2020 2020–2021 2021–2022 2022–2023<br>**----- End of picture text -----**<br>



**----- Start of picture text -----**<br>
Consumption (kWh)<br>300000 2500<br>250000 2000<br>200000<br>1500<br>150000<br>1000<br>100000<br>50000 500<br>0 0<br>2019-20 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23<br>m²/year Electricity Gas<br>**----- End of picture text -----**<br>


**23** 

RCGP Accounts 2023 



Environmental Social Governance 

Reflected in our Scope 3 emissions are business travel, hotel stays during business trips, and, in this reporting year, we have also added emissions from homeworking. 

We are committed to expanding our Scope 3 reporting including waste management data. This step aligns with the broader goal of accounting for indirect emissions that occur outside of our direct operational control. By widening the Scope 3 reporting, we aim to gain a comprehensive understanding of our carbon footprint, including the full extent of our environmental impact beyond our immediate operations. 

## Methodology 

We have followed the 2019 HM Government Environmental Reporting Guidelines and have also used the GHG Reporting Protocol – Corporate Standard. We have utilised the 2022 UK Government’s Conversion Factors for Company Reporting. 

The energy consumption for the headquarters at 30ES is calculated separately from our regional offices. The energy consumption data for 30ES is obtained from utilities invoices and monthly meter readings. Although we have not been able to obtain figures from landlords for our leased premises, we have estimated the consumption based on CIBSE Guide F. 

Due to changes in methodologies and improvements in accuracy, the recalculation and updating of baseline year and previous years’ consumption and emissions have been necessary. 

## Energy efficient actions 

We are currently developing our target and roadmap for carbon reduction. 

During the reporting year, we completed two energy audits for our headquarters at 30ES.  Both reports surveyed the building services including heating, air conditioning, and ventilation systems, as well as the building fabric and lighting. A number of energy saving measures and projects have been identified and these are being evaluated. 

We are in the process of developing an action plan that will focus on delivering low-cost measures, such as adjusting utility operational hours and temperature set points and installing lighting sensors to reduce excessive use. Feasibility studies will be carried out regarding the installation of solar PVs and energy and water monitoring systems. 

## Greening General Practice 

Primary care is responsible for approximately 23% of NHS England’s emissions footprint, or 0.9% of the UK’s total emissions1. The majority of primary care emissions are associated with prescribing, predominantly through the emissions associated with the manufacturing of pharmaceuticals and chemicals and emissions from anaesthetic gases and metred dose inhalers. 

Our growing network of faculty leads gather regularly to facilitate the flow of ideas, concerns and information on the climate emergency and its health consequences and link into the national Greener Practice network. Faculty events have included webinars to inform GP partners about achieving the NHS net zero ambitions and a Greener Practice Wellbeing Day. The College has recently secured a donation of 1,000 tree saplings from the NHS Forest which our Faculties will support as part of their sustainability action plans. 

Other highlights of our work to support general practice in this area include: 

## The RCGP Net Zero Hub 

The RCGP launched its Net Zero Hub in collaboration with Greener NHS at the end of January 2023. The hub offers assistance to practices in assessing their carbon footprint and developing an action plan to reduce their emissions. The Hub has produced new eLearning material to support practices in understanding their carbon emissions: ‘Understanding non-clinical carbon and general practice’. 

**24** 

RCGP Accounts 2023 



Environmental Social Governance 

## The RCGP’s Green Impact for Health (GIFH) Toolkit & Awards 

The Green Impact for Health Toolkit was developed by the RCGP in 2014 using the Green Impact web platform developed by Students Organising for Sustainability (SOS). The toolkit aims to answer the question, “What can I do in my practice?”. It lists over 100 actions that practices can take to improve their environmental sustainability and quality, and tips for how they can make the change. It is currently used by over 1400 practices across the UK. 

## Planetary Health in the RCGP curriculum 

In 2022, the RCGP developed a new professional topic guide for the RCGP curriculum on Population and planetary health. The new topic guide expands on the previous guide, which related to population health, to include reference to planetary ecosystems. The guide contains tips and advice for learning, assessment and continuing professional development, including guidance on the knowledge relevant to this area of general practice. 

## The Greener Practice Network 

The RCGP works closely with Greener Practice, a community interest company (CIC) and the national network for those working in general practice to raise awareness of the health benefits of climate action and to support practical action in primary care. Greener Practice is comprised of over 30 local groups operating across the UK and a number of special interest groups that run through WhatsApp. Their website provides information, resources, webinars, and practical tools for practices that wish to become greener. 

As part of the ongoing collaboration between the RCGP and Greener Practice, one of the leadership team in the RCGP Climate and Sustainability Faculty Leads Group is from Greener Practice. 

## UK Health Alliance on Climate Change (UKHACC) 

RCGP is a founding member of UKHACC which includes 32 leading health organisations, representing around a million health professionals campaigning for responses to climate change that protect and promote public health.  The College is represented on the Council and its Executive. 

In addition we are managing the delivery of Net Zero Primary Care Development support to Primary Care Networks and Integrated Care Systems. The aim is to provide tailored Net Zero Primary Care Development support to 200 practices over the course of two years. 

## RCGP Scotland 

RCGP Scotland Council approved Climate and Sustainability as a policy and campaigns priority topic.  The focus this year has been on 

- a joint statement with the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges and Faculties in Scotland, and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) launching stakeholder engagement and awareness on the need to reduce the environmental harm of medicine prescribing. 

- a Greener GP series of events for members and their peers including ‘Health co-benefits of Climate Mitigation,’ ‘Greener respiratory care’, ‘Greener social prescribing and engaging others in environmental issues’, and ‘Zero waste non-health board buildings’. 

**25** 

RCGP Accounts 2023 



Environmental Social Governance 

## Equality, Diversity and Inclusion 

In September 2020 we published an ambitious three-year action plan containing 19 commitments to our membership, the wider organisations with which we work, our suppliers and partners, customers and our people, around the protected characteristics in the Equality Act 2010. 

Highlights of our achievements include: 

- Implementation of a new staff policy on the menopause. 

- An increase to more than 70% staff satisfaction with the safe and inclusive culture in the College. 

- A detailed review of the staff Transgender Policy. 

- A successful campaign which led the Care Quality Commission to publish recommendations to address regulatory inequalities faced by ethnic minority-led GP practices. 

- An annual protected characteristic data report, providing an understanding of the composition of our workforce, highlighting potential areas of underrepresentation and where investment in appropriate and relevant facilities can be supported. 

- A Digital Accessibility Working Group to: 

   - raise awareness and promote a culture of accessibility in the RCGP; 

   - make recommendations for improving digital accessibility, and make sure these are done where possible; 

   - gather data and information around the accessibility experiences of members and staff; 

   - offer support to members and staff who need accessibility expertise. 

- Improved use of Equality Impact Assessments to review unintended bias in our workstreams, supporting better and fairer decision making. 

- Continued to influence key stakeholders and policy makers.  For example, we have developed dedicated advice and guidance to support our IMG members in obtaining a visa, worked closely with NHS England to deliver a series of events supporting trainees and practices wishing to sponsor IMGs and navigate the visa process. 

- Events and activities on issues relating to race, disability, parenting, gender and allyship. These included an award winning 2 day conference and a ‘Women at the Heart of General Practice’ online exhibition. 

Our annual programme of national awareness activities have included: 

- LGBTQ+ month with talks marking the 50[th] anniversary of Gay Pride UK 

- South Asian Heritage Month with four dynamic events and powerful member stories. 

- A celebration of Black History Month with a variety of events culminating with a talk by Michael Owen Johnson, former footballer, sharing his life experiences. 

We recognise there is still much more work to do to widen representation at senior leadership positions. Our current Governance Review includes a key workstream to improve representation and diversity across college structures and adopt working practices that encourage wider participation and inclusion. 

## Gender Pay Gap 

The snapshot taken on 5th April 2022 shows the College has a mean gender pay gap of 16.5% and a median gender pay gap of 15.6%.  In 2021, the figures were 14.4% and 20.6% respectively.  The Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows the overall UK gender pay gap as 14.6% (Mean) and 15.5% (Median). 

Our analysis shows that the median gap for RCGP is slightly higher than the national average by 0.7%. This continues to be driven by the composition of the workforce in which women represent 68.1% with a higher proportion employed in roles falling in lower pay quartiles.  The figures are further distorted by a gender imbalance in salary sacrifice take-up. 

**26** 

RCGP Accounts 2023 



Environmental Social Governance 

## Living Wage Employer 

We ensure that all of our suppliers that have staff working on our sites are contractually obligated to pay, as a minimum, the national living wage, and in London the London Living Wage. 

## Modern Slavery Statement 

We have published our statement which includes information of our work on safeguarding. 

## Our Governance 

This Governance Statement sets out the governance, risk management and internal control arrangements for the Royal College of General Practitioners. It applies to the financial year 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023 and includes key areas of best practice as identified in the Charity Governance Code 2020. 

## The Constitution of the College 

The Royal College of General Practitioners was founded in 1952 and granted a Royal Charter in 1972.  It is a Chartered Corporation and a registered charity, administered in accordance with its Royal Charter, Ordinances and Byelaws. 

The Charter, Ordinances and Byelaws of the College are the governing instruments of the College, and the Trustees are ultimately responsible for ensuring that the administration of the College is in accordance with those instruments as well as the College’s charitable objectives. 

## Governance structure 

## _RCGP Trustee Board_ 

The Trustee Board is responsible for the management and administration of the College and its status as a charity.  It met five times in the 2022–23 year. 

The Trustee Board Chair and the four Council Member Trustees are elected by Council via ballot. The remaining three Officer Trustees are appointed _ex officio_ to the Trustee Board following election by Council and comprised the Chair of Council, the Honorary Treasurer and the Honorary Secretary. 

The four external lay Trustees are sought through open public advertisement of the vacancy, short listing and interview by the Nominations Committee.  Their appointment is approved by resolution of Council on the recommendation of the Trustee Board on the basis of the review by the Nominations Committee of their expertise and experience. 

To ensure proper communication and accountability, the Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee also attends the Trustee Board as an observer. 

The four Executive Directors and the CEO also attend the Trustee Board as observers. 

## _RCGP Council_ 

Council is responsible for shaping College strategic policy directions in relation to the GP profession, general practice and professional standards and development.  It meets four times a year. 

The RCGP is unique amongst the medical Royal Colleges in having both a President and a Chair of Council. The Chair of UK Council leads the officer team and has responsibility for representing the RCGP at the highest levels with Government and other national bodies. They are elected by Council via ballot and serves a single three-year term of office. 

The President is a ceremonial figurehead.  They are an ex-officio member of Council with voting rights. The President is an elected position by ballot of the whole membership and serves a single two-year term. 

Additional to the Chair and President, there are four Officers of Council elected by Council via ballot. RCGP Council comprises Officers, Chairs of the Devolved Nation Councils, 18 nationally elected 

**27** 

RCGP Accounts 2023 



Environmental Social Governance 

representatives, representatives of the 32 RCGP Faculties, Chairs of College Networks and Committees and members appointed under Byelaws 33 and 40. 

It has a number of standing observers as detailed further below. 

## _Leadership Team_ 

Our leadership team is made up of the Chair of Council, Council Officers, Chair of Trustees, Devolved Council Chairs and the Executive Management Team.  It meets each month and provides regular reports to the Trustee Board. The Leadership Team translates decisions into actions, monitors and reviews progress against the strategic plan and addresses issues affecting general practice. 

## _Executive Management Team_ 

The Executive Management Team is responsible for implementing the policies of the College and managing the day-to-day business.  It comprises the Chief Executive Officer and four Directors.  It meets weekly throughout the year. 

## Our People 

## Trustee Board 

|Actng Chair|Dr John Chisholm CBE FRCGP (untl 27 April 2022)|
|---|---|
|Chair|Professor Mike Holmes FRCGP (from 28 April 2022)|
|Honorary Treasurer (_ex-ofcio_)|Dr Steve Mowle MBE FRCGP|
|Honorary Secretary (_ex-ofcio_)|Dr Michael Mulholland FRCGP|
|Chair of Council (_ex-ofcio_)|Professor Martn Marshall CBE FRCGP (untl 18 November 2022)|
||Professor Kamila Hawthorne MBE FRCGP (from 18 November 2022)|
|Council Trustee|Professor Kamilla Hawthorne MBE FRCGP (untl 18 November 2022)|
||Dr Imran Raf FRCGP|
|Council Trustee|Professor Simon Gregory MBE DL FRCGP|
|Council Trustee|Dr Margaret McCartney FRCGP (untl 18 November 2022)|
||Dr Sonali Kinra MRCGP|
|Council Trustee|Dr Waqar Ahmed MRCGP|
|Lay Trustee|Chris Lake|
|Lay Trustee|Ian Wilson|
|Lay Trustee|Ian Jefery|
|Lay Trustee|Simon Sapper (untl 18 November 2022)|
||Maria Coulson (from 18 November 2022)|
|Observer|Professor Maureen Baker CBE FRCGP, Chair of Audit and Risk|
||Commitee|



**28** 

RCGP Accounts 2023 



Environmental Social Governance 

## Council Officers 

|||Term of ofce|
|---|---|---|
|Chair|Professor Martn Marshall CBE FRCGP (untl 19|3 years|
||November 2022)||
||Professor Kamila Hawthorne MBE FRCGP (from 19||
||November 2022)||
|President|Dame Professor Clare Gerada MBE FRCPsych FRCGP|2 years|
|Vice-Chair (External Afairs)|Dr Gary Howsam FRCGP (untl 19 November 2022)|3 years|
||Dr Victoria Tzortziou-Brown OBE FRCGP (from 19||
||November 2022)||
|Vice-Chair (Professional|Dr Margaret Ikpoh FRCGP|3 years|
|Development & Standards)|||
|Honorary Secretary|Dr Michael Mulholland FRCGP|4 years|
|Honorary Treasurer|Dr Steve Mowle MBE FRCGP|5 years,|
|||with further|
|||3 years|
|||possible|
|Chairs of Devolved Nation|Councils||
|||Term of ofce|
|Chair of RCGP Northern Ireland|Dr Laurence Dorman FRCGP (untl 19 November 2022)|3 years|
||Dr Ursula Mason FRCGP (from 19 November 2022)||
|Chair of RCGP Scotland (job|Dr David Shackles MRCGP|3 years|
|share)|Dr Chris Williams MRCGP||
|Chair of RCGP Wales|Dr Rowena Christmas FRCGP|3 years|



## Council Members 

_Nationally elected members_ 

Dr Aaliya Goyal MRCGP (from 19 November 2022) 

Dr Aarti Bansal MRCGP 

Dr Abrar Ibrahim MRCGP (until 19 November 2022) 

Dr Carter Singh MBE (from 19 November 2022) 

Dr Catherine Tichler MRCGP (until 19 November 2022) 

Dame Professor Clare Gerada MBE FRCPsych FRCGP 

**29** 

RCGP Accounts 2023 



Environmental Social Governance 

Dr Gail Allsopp FRCGP (from 19 November 2022) 

Dr Ginikachukwu Ilechukwu MRCGP 

Dr Imran Rafi FRCGP (until 19 November 2022) 

Professor Kamila Hawthorne MBE FRCGP (until 19 November 2022) 

Dr Kirsty Alexander MRCGP 

Dr Lucy Henshall FRCGP (until 19 November 2022) 

Dr Margaret Ikpoh FRCGP 

Dr Margaret McCartney MRCGP (until 19 November 2022) 

Professor Mike Holmes FRCGP 

Dr Mohana Ratnapalan MRCGP 

Dr Omon Imohi MRCGP - from Nov 2020 

Dr Richard Vautrey MRCGP (from 19 November 2022) Sir Sam Everington OBE MRCGP (from 19 November 2022) 

Dr Sonali Kinra MRCGP 

Dr Susi Caesar FRCGP 

Dr Tajvinder Grewal MRCGP 

Dr Uwadiae Ima-Edomwonyi FRCGP 

Dr Victoria Tzortziou Brown OBE FRCGP 

## _Faculty Representatives_ 

Dr Frances Cranfield FRCGP Prof Veronica Wilkie FRCGP (until January 2023) Dr Dornubari Lebari MRCGP (from January 2023 Dr Alice Cozens MRCGP 

Dr Munro Stewart MRCGP Dr Sunil Gupta FRCGP 

Dr Thomas Patel-Campbell MRCGP Dr Saqib Anwar FRCGP Dr Jonathan Griffiths FRCGP Brigadier Robin Simpson FRCGP Dr Jamie Hynes FRCGP – (until Nov 2022) Dr Onyinye Okonkwo FRCGP (from November 2022) 

Bedford & Hertfordshire 

Cumbria 

East Anglia East of Scotland 

Essex Humber and the Ridings 

Leicester 

Mersey 

Midland 

_(with additional member >5%)_ 

**30** 

RCGP Accounts 2023 



Environmental Social Governance 

Dr Andrew Dharman MRCGP Dr Sam Bethapudi FRCGP Dr Janakan Crofton MRCGP Dr Christopher Provan FRCGP Dr David Stephens FRCGP Dr Sioned Enlli MRCGP Dr Jane Wilcock FRCGP Dr Robert West MRCGP Dr Waqar Ahmed MRCGP Dr Ide Delargy FRCGP Dr Jill Wilson FRCGP Dr Sian Tucker MRCGP Dr Kate Neden FRCGP Dr Isolde Shore-Nye MRCGP Dr David Mummery MRCGP Dr Jaspreet Dhillon FRCGP Dr Will Mackintosh FRCGP Dr Janet Hall FRCGP 

Dr Susanna Hill FRCGP (until January 2023) Dr Nick Hodges FRCGP (from January 2023) Dr Shamila Wanninayake MRCGP Dr Carter Singh MBE FRCGP (until November 2022) Dr Anjla Sharman FRCGP (from November 2022) Dr Johnny Lyon-Maris MRCGP Dr Karen O’Reilly FRCGP Dr Trudy Foster (until November 2022) Dr Mary Anne Burrow FRCGP (from November 2022) Dr Gwyn Elias MRCGP 

North & West London North East England North East London North East Scotland North of Scotland North Wales North West England _(with additional member >5%)_ Northern Ireland RoI Severn South East Scotland South East Thames South East Wales South London South West Thames South West Wales South Yorkshire and North Trent Tamar Thames Valley Vale of Trent 

Wessex _(with additional member >5%)_ West of Scotland 

Yorkshire 

**31** 

RCGP Accounts 2023 



Environmental Social Governance 

## Additional members 

Chair – Trustee Board 

Council Trustee (Byelaw 33 (6) member) 

Previous Chair of Council (Byelaw 33 (8) member) 

Chair – Committee on Medical Ethics (Byelaw 40 member) 

Chair – Associates in Training  Network 

Deputy Chair – Associates in Training Network 

Chair – First 5 Network 

Prof Mike Holmes FRCGP 

Prof Simon Gregory MBE FRCGP 

Professor Martin Marshall CBE FRCGP 

Dr Andrew Papanikitas FRCGP 

Dr Julia Darko AiT and Dr Harry Williams AiT (Joint Chair until November 2022) Dr Khaled Zeidan AiT (from November 2022) 

Dr Sahan Samaraweera AiT and Dr Jigisha Gaglani AiT (Joint Deputy Chair from November 2022) 

Dr Emma Wong MRCGP 

## Council Observers 

Mrs Jenny Aston 

Professor Carolyn Chew-Graham FRCGP (until November 2022) 

Allied Health Professionals representative 

Society for Academic Primary Care (SAPC) 

Dr Duncan Shrewsbury MRCGP and Dr Rupert Payne MRCGP (Joint from November 2022) 

Professor Rich Withnall FRCGP 

Dr Peter Holden FRCGP Dr Venothan Suri MRCGP 

Dr Chandra Kanneganti MRCGP Dr Sanjiv Sinha MRCGP 

Dr Euan Lawson FRCGP 

Professor Amjad Khan FRCGP 

Colonel Professor Michael Smith FRCGP (until December 2022) 

RCGP Chief Examiner 

British Medical Association General Practitioners Committee (BMA GPC) 

British International Doctors Association (BIDA) representative (Job Share) 

Editor of the British Journal of General Practice (BJGP) 

Committee of General Practice Education Directors (COGPED) representative 

Joint Armed Forces representative 

Surgeon Captain Dr Kate King FRCGP (from January 2023) 

Owen Richards 

RCGP Lay Chair Patient and Carers Partnership Group (PCPG) Chair 

**32** 

RCGP Accounts 2023 



Environmental Social Governance 

## Executive Management Team 

Chief Executive Officer 

Chief Operating Officer 

Interim Chief Operating Officer and Executive Director of Policy and Engagement 

Executive Director of Professional Training and Standards 

Executive Director of Planning and Resources 

Executive Director Membership Development and Education 

(Vacant, awaiting appointment) 

Dr Valerie Vaughan-Dick MBE PhD (until December 2022) 

Mark Thomas 

Fiona Erasmus 

Harriet Jones 

Ben Clacy 

## Trustee Board 

Trustee Board held four scheduled and one additional meeting during the year. The below table shows the number of meetings attended by each Trustee. 

Professor Mike Holmes FRCGP (from 28 April 2022) 

Dr Waqar Ahmed MRCGP 

Maria Coulson (from 18 November 2022) Professor Simon Gregory MBE DL FRCGP Professor Kamila Hawthorne MBE FRCGP Ian Jeffery 

Dr Sonali Kinra MRCGP 

Chris Lake 

Dr Steve Mowle MBE FRCGP 

Dr Michael Mulholland FRCGP 

Dr Imran Rafi FRCGP 

Ian Wilson 

Dr John Chisholm CBE FRCGP (until 27 April 2022) 

Professor Martin Marshall CBE FRCGP (until 18 November 2022) 

Dr Margaret McCartney FRCGP (until 18 November 2022) 

Simon Sapper (until 18 November 2022) 

Chair elected by Council ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Council-elected member ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Lay trustee ✓ ✓  (of a possible 2) Council-elected member ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Ex-officio ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Lay trustee ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Council-elected member ✓ ✓  (of a possible 2) Lay trustee ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Ex-officio ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Ex-officio ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Council-elected member ✓ ✓  (of a possible 2) Lay trustee ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Interim Chair ✓ (of a possible 1) Ex-officio ✓ ✓  (of a possible 3) Council-elected member ✓ ✓  (of a possible 3) Lay trustee ✓ ✓  (of a possible 3) 

**33** 

RCGP Accounts 2023 



Environmental Social Governance 

## _Attendance_ 

When Trustees were not able to attend meetings, they received and reviewed the relevant meeting papers. Where they had comments or concerns on the matters to be discussed, they provided these to the Chair of Trustees or the governance team in advance of the meeting. The Chair of Trustees engaged with Trustees between Board meetings to discuss business and strategic issues. Trustees met, without the Executive Directors being present, at the end of every scheduled Board meeting. Comprehensive Board and Committee papers, comprising an agenda and formal reports and briefing papers are sent to Trustees in advance of each meeting. Trustees are also updated with written and verbal reports, from senior executives and external advisers during the meeting. 

## _Matters considered_ 

Each of the scheduled meetings includes a wide-ranging report from the Chief Operating Officer and reports from the Executive Director Planning and Resources on the College’s financial performance. Reports from the Committee and updates on major projects were also provided at each Board meeting. 

## _Conflicts of interest_ 

The College has a Conflicts of Interests Policy, published through the website, which all Trustees and members of Trustee Board committees, must adhere to. Trustees’ Conflicts of Interests Forms are published online via the College website. The College’s Executive Management Team also maintain a Register of Interests. The College has processes to manage and/or mitigate any actual or potential Conflicts of Interests. 

## Trustee Board Committees 

There are five committees with specific responsibility to the Board of Trustees to support the collective decision making on the management and administration of the College and its status as a charity. They are: 

- Audit and Risk Committee 

- Planning and Resources Committee 

- Remuneration Committee 

- Governance Committee 

- Nominations Committee 

## _Audit and Risk Committee_ 

Purpose: Oversees the adequacy of the risk and control systems with an emphasis on scrutiny of key risks and monitoring internal audit programme. 

Activity: Met four times in 2022–23 

Professor Maureen Baker CBE Chair of Audit and Risk Committee ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Dr Waqar Ahmed Council Trustee ✓ ✓ ✓ (of a possible 4) Dr Ken Lawton College member ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Juliet Oliver (Resigned December 2022) Independent member ✓ ✓ (of a possible 3) Dr Sahadev Swain College member ✓ ✓ ✓ (of a possible 4) Ian Wilson Lay Trustee ✓ ✓ (of a possible 4) Clifton Melvin Independent member ✓ (of a possible 1) (from March 2023) 

**34** 

RCGP Accounts 2023 



Environmental Social Governance 

The Audit and Risk Committee assists the Board in overseeing and monitoring financial reporting, internal controls systems and risk management systems. 

The committee reviews and scrutinises the Strategic Risk Register before submission to Trustee Board; maintains a programme of internal audits; conduct deep dives into specific risks identified through the Strategic Risk Register; receives reports from the Health and Safety Committee; receives reports on any legal issues and risks; and receives the Annual Report and Accounts and auditors’ report before submission to Trustee Board for approval. 

Following a tender process, Crowe were appointed external auditors in 2016. The College formally appoints the auditors annually at their Annual General Meeting, held in November each year. In July 2022 Audit and Risk Committee reviewed the approach to re-tendering external auditors and recommended a tender process should be run every eight-years. 

The Committee approved the Crowe audit plan, the methodology used, the scope of the audit, the risks, and areas of focus as well as the materiality threshold for the Group and the threshold for reporting unadjusted differences. 

Based on all evidence presented, the Committee satisfied itself that the external audit has been conducted independently and effectively with the appropriate rigour and level of testing. 

## _Planning and Resources Committee_ 

Purpose: Oversees the financial management of the College, including investment decisions Activity: Met four times in 2022–23 

|Dr Steve Mowle MBE|Honorary Treasurer (Chair)|✓ ✓ ✓ ✓|
|---|---|---|
|Prof. Kamila Hawthorne|Council elected member Trustee|✓ ✓ ✓(of a possible 3)|
|Yvonne Umebuani|College member|✓ ✓ ✓|
|Chris Lake|Lay Trustee|✓ ✓ ✓ ✓|
|Margaret McCartney|Council elected member Trustee|✓ ✓ ✓(of a possible 3)|
|Stephen Brooks|Independent member|✓(of a possible 2)|
|Dave Bennet|Independent member|✓(of a possible 2)|
|Marc Leppard|Independent member|✓ ✓ ✓(of a possible 3)|
|_Joined Commitee in 2023_|||
|Dr Sonali Kinra|Council elected member Trustee|✓(of a possible 1)|
|Dr Imran Raf|Council elected member Trustee|✓(of a possible 1)|



## _Remuneration Committee_ 

Purpose: Approves the Executive Pay Policy and ensures arrangements are made in line with this. Activity: Met twice in 2022–23 

|Actvity: Met twice in 2022–23|||
|---|---|---|
|Dr Alan Wells|Independent Chair|✓ ✓|
|Dr Mike Holmes|Chair of the Trustee Board|✓ ✓|
|Ian Jefery|Lay Trustee|✓ ✓|
|Dr Sonali Kinra (to November 2022)|Council Member|✓(of a possible 1)|



**35** 

RCGP Accounts 2023 



Environmental Social Governance 

|Thomas Patel-Campbell (from November|Council Member|✓(of a possible 1)|
|---|---|---|
|2022)|||
|Ian Wilder|Independent member|✓ ✓|
|Dr Steve Mowle MBE|Honorary Trustee|✓ ✓|



## _Governance Committee_ 

Purpose: Oversight of the College’s governance structure, documents and policies. Advising on the skills required by Trustees 

Activity: Met twice in 2022–23 

|<br>required by Trustees<br>Actvity: Met twice in 2022–23|||
|---|---|---|
|Dr Michael Mulholland|Honorary Secretary, Chair|✓ ✓|
|Elizabeth Blease (from December 2022)|Independent member|✓(of a possible 1)|
|Prof Simon Gregory DL MBE|Council Trustee|✓|
|Clare Sunderland Hay|Independent member|✓(of a possible 1)|
|Prof Martyn Hewit|College member|✓ ✓|
|Dr David Mummery|College member|✓ ✓|
|Dr Kate Neden|College member|✓|
|Simon Sapper|Lay Trustee|–|
|Dr Carter Singh|College member|✓|



The focus of the Governance Committee over the past year has been oversight of the Governance Review and to make recommendations for governance reform to Trustee Board. The Committee has also reviewed a number of Governance policies including the Members’ Code of Conduct, and the Conflicts of Interest policy. 

Membership: Three Trustees (including the Chair), two Council members, one member of the College, one AiT member; one First5 member, and the Chair of the College’s Patient Carers Partnership Group ex officio. 

## _Nominations Committee_ 

Purpose: The Nomination Committee leads the process for all college appointments and reappointments to Trustee Board, Council and their committees and oversees the development of a diverse pipeline for succession. 

Activity: Met once in 2022–23 

|Maria Coulson|Lay Trustee (Chair)|✓|
|---|---|---|
|Lisa Charles-Jones|Independent member|–|
|Lisa Condron|Independent member|✓|
|Dr Sonali Kinra|Council Trustee|✓|



This year the Nominations Committee was reconstituted as a standing committee of the Trustee board and is no longer a sub-committee of Governance Committee. 

**36** 

RCGP Accounts 2023 



Environmental Social Governance 

It ensures that all College appointments use open advertising or the services of external advisers to facilitate the search; considers candidates from a wide range of backgrounds; and considers candidates on merit and against objective criteria. 

The Committee acts with due regard to the benefits of the Trustee Board and committee, having an appropriate balance of skills, knowledge, experience and cognitive and diversity in its widest sense, and taking care that appointees have enough time available to devote to the position. 

Its responsibilities also include regularly reviewing the structure, size and composition (including the skills, knowledge, experience and cognitive and characteristic diversity) of the board and to make recommendations to the board with regard to any changes. 

All appointments to Trustee Board are subject to formal approval by Trustee Board and ratification by Council, which consists of representatives of the wider membership. 

All elections are conducted in partnership with our independent election partner, Civita. 

The committee is committed to the College’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Plan. 

In addition there are three commercial Boards – RCGP Conferences Ltd, RCGP Enterprises Ltd and RCGP International Ltd. 

## Trustee Board Effectiveness 

The priorities this year were: 

**Organisation Purpose: –** development of a new RCGP Strategy for 2023-2026 following a comprehensive consultation with RCGP Council. 

**Leadership: –** a review of how the Board discharges its role in providing constructive challenge to maximise support and expertise to College teams. 

**Efficacy: –** a review of the composition of the Board as part of a wider Governance Review using the indicators of best practice set out in the Corporate and Charity Governance Codes. 

**Decision-making: –** an internal audit identified potential duplication between the role of the Leadership Team and Trustee Board functions and recommendations to review the former is being taken forward as part of the wider Governance Review. 

**Board Effectiveness: –** an action plan for strengthening team working and individual development. 

**Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: –** a Board training event took place in January. 

The Governance Review, which started work this year, is a framework for updating and clarifying our governance policies and processes to encourage greater consistency and transparency of decision making. It has at its heart increasing diversity and wider representation of our membership within leadership roles. 

The initial phases have reported with recommendations for modernising arrangements for Officer roles and to provide greater clarity on legal duties, and appointment terms (e.g. pay, sick/annual leave, appraisal and H&S) and these will be implemented during 2023-24. 

The latest phase of the Review is on optimising arrangements for the Trustee, Council, Committees and election processes in line with best practice.  The emphasis is on simplifying decision-making, prioritising discussions to make best use of member and trustee time and streamlining processes. 

## Policies and procedures for the induction of Trustees 

Upon appointment each Trustee is provided with an induction process that includes the following: 

- Governance overview of the RCGP’s charitable object and the focus on public benefit. 

- Attendance at the annual Council member induction to ensure that the roles of Council and Trustee Board are understood as well as gaining insight into the wider College structures and projects. 

- An information folder that includes a Declarations of Interest policy and form; information security policy; Equality, Diversity & Inclusion policy; previous minutes from Trustee Board meetings; 

**37** 

RCGP Accounts 2023 



Environmental Social Governance 

indemnity insurance information; College strategy and the Annual Report & Accounts of the previous year; and 

- Access to external Trustee training as required. 

## Performance reporting to the Trustee Board 

During 2022–23 the information considered by the Trustee Board was quality assured by: 

- Using a consistent framework for the collation of data that allowed Trustees to compare performance and targets; and 

- Quality assurance processes preceding finalisation of reports to ensure that information contained in the reports was accurate. 

## Council committees 

There are four committees established by Council to support its work. They are: 

- The Joint Fellowship and Awards Committee 

- The Committee on Medical Ethics 

- The Patient and Carers Partnership Group 

- The Scientific Foundation Board. 

## _The Joint Fellowship and Awards Committee_ 

Chair: Dame Professor Clare Gerada, President 

Membership: Officers of Council, PCPG representative, Faculty Fellowship Committee representative, three College fellows, a Devolved Nations representative 

Purpose: Sets criteria for Fellowship, considers and recommends to Council the conferment of College fellowships, awards and honours. 

Activity: Met twice in 2022–23. 

## _The Committee on Medical Ethics_ 

## Chair: Dr Andrew Papanikitas 

Membership: Two Council members, two College members, three lay academic members and three additional members with special expertise in ethics, philosophy, medical ethics, medico-legal or biomedical issues, observer members including representatives from the AiT Network, the Devolved Nations and the PCGP. 

Purpose: To explore principles, values and beliefs informing decisions and provide advice to Council and to College and its members on medical ethics issues. 

Activity: Met four times in 2022–23 

## _The Patient and Carers Partnership Group_ 

## Chair: Owen Richards 

Membership: Vice-chair (External Affairs), two College members, up to eleven lay members one of whom shall be elected Lay Chair 

Purpose: To represent to the College patient perspectives and experience, inputting into College strategy and policy. 

Activity: Met three times in 2022–23 

**38** 

RCGP Accounts 2023 



Environmental Social Governance 

## _The Scientific Foundation Board_ 

Chair: Professor Richard Neal 

Membership: Honorary Treasurer, seven additional members 

Purpose: To award grants for research specific to general medical practice undertaken within the UK Activity: Met once in 2022–23 

## Governance Changes in 2022–23 

The Nominations Committee was restructured during the year to become a standalone committee reporting directly to the Trustee Board. This enhanced role is intended to increase the independence and gravitas of this important work area. 

Following the departure of the Chief Operating Officer to take up a new role, the Trustee Board agreed to reinstate the post of Chief Executive Officer. 

## Serious Incidents 

There have been no serious incidents to report. 

## Risk management 

The Audit and Risk Committee provides scrutiny of the risk management processes in place across the College and advises the Trustee Board on strategic risks. The Trustee Board retains overall responsibility for risk management and reviews the strategic risk register at each meeting. 

Risk management is designed to achieve a proportionate balance between control, cost and risk-taking. The Trustee Board has approved a College Risk Appetite Statement which will be embedded into the risk framework during 2022–23. 

There have been 5 Internal Audits carried out in 2022–23 on: 

- Data management 

- CPD, governance 

- Income management 

- International 

- Strategy delivery 

In addition, a follow-up report on implementation of previous internal audit recommendations was produced. 

## _Strategic Risks_ 

## _Workforce_ 

This risk is a failure to recruit, motivate and retain high calibre staff causing a misalignment between the organisation’s existing workforce and the workforce required to deliver its objectives. 

The risk mitigations are regularly reviewed and updated in line with results from the regular staff Pulse Surveys which gather staff feedback, and Workforce Data reporting. 

## _Membership_ 

This risk is to mitigate the potential failure to demonstrate value for money in the membership offer, and align it sufficiently to member need.  We have established a Member Value Proposition providing guidance and recommendations that embed a culture of providing member value to our work. 

**39** 

RCGP Accounts 2023 



Environmental Social Governance 

## _30 Euston Square_ 

The Covid-19 pandemic significantly impacted commercial operations in 30 Euston Square which is the College’s main asset. The building now has potential for new uses as hybrid working has increased floorspace available for commercial use. 

We are continuing to tightly manage the cost base with our commercial partners and have carried out further building modifications to enable new commercial uses from mid 2023. 

## _New exam arrangements_ 

During the pandemic we developed the on-line Recorded Consultation Assessment (RCA) in place of the Clinical Skills Assessment (CSA) enabling trainees to submit recorded consultations with real patients and mitigate the risk of preventing doctors qualifying as GPs. 

A new CSA is under development with the aim of going live in November 2023. Key mitigations are in place and updated regularly by an Oversight Group. 

## _Operational Delivery and Effective Advocacy of General Practice_ 

This strategic risk recognises the critical role RCGP plays to encourage, foster and maintain the highest possible standards in general practice.  The worsening environment for GPs and their teams with the resulting negative impact on standards of patient care continues to be the priority. 

An internal audit identified recommendations for strengthening business reporting of priority actions and these are being integrated into new arrangements for monitoring delivery of the new strategy. 

## _Diversity & Representation_ 

Ensuring diversity and representation at senior committees and boards is essential to ensuring our membership experience is reflected in our priorities and activities.  A new EDI manager has been recruited to support development of the new EDI Strategy, co-ordinate activities across College and support mainstreaming of priority actions into College work.  Other mitigations include regular reviews of election processes, a strengthened Nominations Committee to scrutinise role descriptors and person specifications to ensure these support EDI, Governance Review actions to ensure roles and processes encourage a wide talent pool and improved annual reporting of EDI data on college representation. 

## _Governance Processes_ 

An internal audit identified some areas where governance processes seemed unclear or overly reliant on custom and practice.  The risk is these cause tensions where individuals are new to roles and the institutional memory is lost.  We are codifying arrangements and reducing duplication between Committees. 

## _Pensions Deficit_ 

Detail on the pension deficit can be found in the financial section but under risk management the pension deficit is mitigated through effective budgeting and forecasting which takes into account payments, including deficit payments, in relation to the pension plan. 

**40** 

RCGP Accounts 2023 




## Reference and administrative details 

## Principal Address 

30 Euston Square London NW1 2FB 

## Principal Advisers 

_Bankers_ 

Barclays Bank PLC 1 Churchill Place Level 28 Canary Wharf London E14 5HP 

## _Solicitors_ 

The College uses various firms of solicitors based on their speciality 

## _External Auditor_ 

Crowe U.K. LLP 55 Ludgate Hill London EC4M 7JW 

_Internal Auditor_ 

RSM LLP 25 Farringdon Street London EC4A 4AB 

_Investment Managers_ 

Royal London Asset Management 55 Gracechurch Street London EC3V 0RL 

RCGP Accounts 2023 

**41** 




## Financial review for the year 

## Introduction by Dr Steve Mowle, Honorary Treasurer 

I am delighted to present the RCGP accounts for 2022–23. 

This year, we have made significant headway on recovering from the financial impact of Covid-19.  The loss of income during 2020 and 2021 hit our finances hard and we had to make some difficult decisions to enable us to invest in additional resources to support members through that devastating chapter in our history. 

Whilst that period is now behind us, like many other organisations, we are facing a difficult economic climate.  Costs have soared and our ability to maintain a cost neutral position has necessitated tight controls to stay within our staff headcount and a reduction on non staff budgets. 

Despite this, we have been able to expand member services and maintain membership growth.  We strive to put members at the heart of everything we do and will continue to develop new ways of demonstrating and improving the value of membership. 

Our ambition in the new strategy is for a sustainable future, with the key aim to ensure members see the College as their professional home. 

Sustainability is already driving more efficient business practices - reducing emissions through reduced travel, better use of online meeting facilities and improved accessibility to CPD, member communities and networking opportunities, and regular updates on what the College is doing on behalf of our members. 

It is not an easy time to be a GP.  In my own practice in inner city London, we share the challenges and frustrations of dealing with a shrinking workforce at a time of increasing patient need. I remain as passionate about our profession today as I did when I chose this career path and it is a privilege to serve as Honorary Treasurer.  I would like to thank everyone who contributes to and supports the College’s work. 

## Results for the year 

The consolidated statement of financial activities shows the College’s total incoming resources for the year have increased to £46.2m (2022: £39.8m), while total resources expended increased to £42.5m (2022: £35.2m). 

This year there were losses on the revaluation of investments of £1.5m (2022: gain of £1.6m). 

The actuarial loss on defined benefit pension scheme was £1.3m (2022: gain of £1.6m).  The pension scheme deficit increased to £0.4m (2022: £0.2m). 

The funds balances at the year end are represented by unrestricted funds £64.5m (2022: £63.7m), restricted funds £1.3m (2022: £1.1m). 

**42** 

RCGP Accounts 2023 



Financial review for the year 

The College has net current assets of £2.9m (2022: £1.9m) at the year end.  The improvement on the previous financial year is a result of higher cash balances due to the improved surplus mainly a result of an improvement in income streams as the College continues to recover post Covid. 

The principal funding sources for the College remain membership subscriptions, examinations income and surplus generated by its trading subsidiaries. 

## Reserves policy 

The College has £64.5m held in general funds. These funds represent the accumulated surpluses from general business activities and are available for use at the discretion of the Trustees. 

General funds include unrestricted funds, designated project funds, a designated property reserve and the pension deficit fund. 

|**Fund**|Total £(m)|
|---|---|
|Unrestricted funds|11.9|
|Designated project funds|1.0|
|Designated property reserve|52.0|
|Pension defcit|(0.4)|
|**Total General Funds**|64.5|



## _Designated project funds_ 

These are funds that have been assigned to particular projects the College is undertaking. For more detail on individual designations see Note 31 on page 75. 

## _Designated property reserve_ 

This reserve represents funds invested in the property owned by the College, 30 Euston Square, London and other fixed assets less the amount repayable on the loan for the building. 

## _Pension deficit_ 

The College has a pension deficit which remains a risk.  This is being managed with an effective budgeting and forecasting process in place that takes into account payments, including deficit payments, in relation to the pension plan. 

Where further actions are being taken in terms of plans for the future of the scheme or discussions with pension Trustees this is also being included. 

## _Free reserves_ 

The Trustees consider all unrestricted funds and designated project funds to be free reserves and readily realisable.  As at year end these totalled £12.9m. 

Trustees have reviewed key risks, as outlined in Risk Management. Where possible these risks have been quantified in order to assess the optimal level of free reserves required. 

Following this review Trustees have agreed a target range for the level of free reserves of 3 to 6 months operational expenditure (£11m to £22m). 

Currently the College holds free reserves totalling £12.9m which is within the agreed range. Trustees have reviewed a 3-year plan which intends to keep reserves stable and within the range agreed by Trustees. 

**43** 

RCGP Accounts 2023 



Financial review for the year 

## Going concern 

Trustees have considered several factors in concluding that the adoption of a going concern basis in the preparation of these financial statements is appropriate. These factors have included a summary of the key risks and uncertainties in the context of the College’s operations and a review of the budgets and forecasts for the next three years. The forecasts consider both immediate liquidity and longer-term solvency, together with the impact on reserves. 

For the period to 31 March 2026 the Board has considered the impact of a series of scenarios, detailing what is considered to be an assumed position against a ‘best-case’ and ‘worst-case’ scenario. Material differences between the scenarios result from assumptions relating to commercial use of the Head Office, member numbers and inflation. 

Working capital requirements are met through income received from business activities. The College has the ability to drawdown against funds held within the College’s investment portfolio if required. The College has a loan facility in place with Barclays Bank as detailed in note 29 to the financial statements. The College agreed a deferral of loan capital repayments for 12 months from June 2020 as part of the Finance Recovery Plan implemented in response to challenges presented by Covid. Repayment will be at the end of the loan term. 

Having regard to the financial models for the period to 2026 and the assumptions on which those are based, the Trustees believe it appropriate to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the financial statements. 

## Subsidiary and related companies (subsidiaries) 

The College has three subsidiary undertakings which are consolidated in these accounts: 

- RCGP Enterprises Limited – which manages commercial activity in 30 Euston Square 

- RCGP Conferences Limited – which manages the College’s annual conference and various other activity on behalf of the College. 

- RCGP International Limited – which manages commercial activity overseas. 

## Investment policy 

The investment objective of the portfolio, as set by the Trustee Board, is an absolute return strategy which aims to maintain the capital value of the portfolio in real terms and achieve positive returns. 

The Charity’s ethical investment policy precludes direct or indirect investment in companies that generate more than 10% of revenues from: 

- a) alcohol 

- b) tobacco-related business activities 

- c) adult entertainment services 

- d) weapons systems, components, and support systems and services 

- e) gambling-related business activities 

Investment is also precluded in companies which: 

- a) have an ICB sector classification of Oil & Gas producers and a sub-sector classification either of Integrated Oil & Gas or of Exploration & Production 

- b) have an ICB sector classification of Mining and a sub-sector classification of Coal 

- c) manufacture cluster munitions systems, components or delivery platforms 

RCGP Accounts 2023 

**44** 



Financial review for the year 

- d) manufacture landmines 

- e) are involved in the production of depleted uranium weapons, ammunition or armour 

- f) manufacture biological or chemical weapons. 

The College’s investment portfolio is held in a managed fund with Royal London Asset Management Ltd. The investment portfolio valuation as of 30th June 2023 was £8.7m, in line with the balance at year-end. 

## Fundraising policy 

The College is a member of the Fundraising Regulator.  The College does not currently undertake specific fundraising activities, but it supports the Code of Fundraising Practice, and any future fundraising activity would be carried out in line with its recommendations. 

## Grant making policy 

The Scientific Foundation Board (SFB) awards grants for research whose findings will be of direct relevance to the care of patients in the general practice setting. Any GP, primary healthcare professional or university-based researcher may apply for a grant for scientific research to be undertaken in the UK. The SFB’s definition of research is descriptive and includes experimental studies. All applications are judged on the quality of the project proposal. It should be noted that the Board does not fund audit projects. 

The SFB gives a high priority to submission from practising GPs and other members of primary care teams. The SFB encourages, and will give priority to, applications from young and/or new researchers and to those who have not previously been funded by the SFB. Applications are not restricted to those from members of the College. 

The SFB administers offers two forms of research funding: annual research grants of up to £30,000 and Practitioner Allowance Grants of up to £2,000. Applications for annual research grants are reviewed by members of the SFB, and at the annual meeting of the SFB (held in the Autumn) the Board decides where research grants will be awarded. Practitioner Allowance Grants can be applied for at any time of the year and are awarded following review by the chair and at least one other member of the SFB. 

## Employment 

The College is committed to a policy of equality of opportunity in its employment practices and aims to ensure that no job applicant or employee receives less favourable treatment on the grounds of race (including colour, nationality, ethnic or national origins), sex, sexual orientation or marital status, disability or of other conditions not justified in law or relevant to the performance of the job. 

Individuals are selected, promoted and treated on the basis of their abilities and merits, and according to the requirements of the job. 

## Pay policy for staff 

## _Senior staff_ 

The Executive Management Team is considered the key management personnel of the College. The pay of the Executive Management Team is monitored by the Remuneration Committee. A professional reward consultancy undertakes an extensive benchmarking exercise triennially and produces a report which is then considered by the Remuneration Committee, who makes a final decision on the Executive’s pay. Our Executive Pay Policy sets out our approach to pay and is underpinned by the following principles: to pay a fair salary and reward package to attract and retain skilled and expert senior leaders for the College and to ensure our salaries and benefits are competitive within the sector, proportionate to the complexity of each role and responsibility and affordable. 

RCGP Accounts 2023 

**45** 



Financial review for the year 

## _All staff_ 

RCGP operates the Reward Connected Job Evaluation scheme (JESS), which determines the College’s pay structure and associated pay. The median market rate for each of the grades is the minimum salary for all posts at RCGP. In order to ensure RCGP salaries continue to accurately reflect median market rates, an exercise to review the market is conducted triennially by an external consultancy. Following the external review, which informs the College on the market rates, amendments to the pay and grading are considered by Trustees. 

Separately to the benchmarking exercise, the College determines on an annual basis any general uplift to existing rates of pay for College employee, and negotiates with Unite. 

## Statement of trustees’ responsibilities 

The Trustees are responsible for preparing the Report and Accounts in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice). 

The law applicable to charities in England and Wales and Scotland requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the of the College and the group and of the incoming resources and application of resources of the College and the group for that year. 

In preparing the financial statements, the Trustees are required to: 

- select suitable accounting policies and apply them consistently. 

- observe the method and principles in the Charities Statement of Recommended  Practice. 

- make judgements and accounting estimates that are reasonable and prudent. 

- state whether applicable accounting standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and 

- prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the group will continue its operations. 

The Trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the College’s and group’s transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the group and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011, the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005, the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 and the Charity’s constitution. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the group and taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. 

The Trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the charity and financial information included on the charity’s website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions. 

RCGP Accounts 2023 

**46** 



Financial review for the year 

## Auditor 

Crowe U.K. LLP were re-appointed as auditor during the year and have indicated their willingness to continue in office. 

The Trustees who held office at the date of the Report of the Trustee Board confirm that there is no relevant audit information of which the College’s auditors are unaware.  Each Trustee has taken the necessary steps to ensure they are aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the College’s auditors are aware of that information. 

Approved by the Trustee Board and signed on its behalf by: 


Prof. Mike Holmes FRCGP Chair of Trustee Board 


Dr Steve Mowle FRCGP Honorary Treasurer 

Approved on 27th July 2023 

RCGP Accounts 2023 

**47** 




## Independent Auditor’s report to the members of the Royal College of General Practitioners 

## Opinion 

We have audited the financial statements of the Royal College of General Practitioners (‘the parent charity’) and its subsidiaries (‘the group’) for the year ended 31 March 2023 which comprise the Consolidated Statement of Financial Activities, the College and Group Balance Sheets, the Consolidated Cash Flows Statement and notes to the financial statements, including significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice). 

In our opinion the financial statements: 

- give a true and fair view of the state of the group’s and the parent charity’s affairs as at 31 March 2023 and of the group’s income and expenditure, for the year then ended; 

- have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; and 

- have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 and the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and Regulations 6 and 8 of the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (amended). 

## Basis for opinion 

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the group in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion. 

## Conclusions relating to going concern 

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the trustee’s use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate. 

**48** 

RCGP Accounts 2023 



Independent Auditor’s report 

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the charity’s or the group’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue. 

Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report. 

## Other information 

The trustees are responsible for the other information contained within the annual report. The other information comprises the information included in the annual report, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon. 

Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact. 

We have nothing to report in this regard. 

## Matters on which we are required to report by exception 

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion: 

- the information given in the financial statements is inconsistent in any material respect with the trustees’ report; or 

- sufficient and proper accounting records have not been kept by the parent charity or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or 

- the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or 

- we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit. 

## Responsibilities of trustees 

As explained more fully in the trustees’ responsibilities statement 41 the trustees are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error. 

In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are responsible for assessing the group and the parent charity’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the trustees either intend to liquidate the charity or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so. 

**49** 

RCGP Accounts 2023 



Independent Auditor’s report 

## Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements 

We have been appointed as auditor under section 151 of the Charities Act 2011, and section 44(1)(c) of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and report in accordance with the Acts and relevant regulations made or having effect thereunder. 

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements. 

Details of the extent to which the audit was considered capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations are set out below. 

A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor’s report. 

## Extent to which the audit was considered capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud 

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We identified and assessed the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements from irregularities, whether due to fraud or error, and discussed these between our audit team members. We then designed and performed audit procedures responsive to those risks, including obtaining audit evidence sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion. 

We obtained an understanding of the legal and regulatory frameworks within which the charity and group operates, focusing on those laws and regulations that have a direct effect on the determination of material amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. The laws and regulations we considered in this context were the Charities Act 2011 and The Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 together with the Charities SORP (FRS 102). We assessed the required compliance with these laws and regulations as part of our audit procedures on the related financial statement items. 

In addition, we considered provisions of other laws and regulations that do not have a direct effect on the financial statements but compliance with which might be fundamental to the charity’s and the group’s ability to operate or to avoid a material penalty. We also considered the opportunities and incentives that may exist within the charity and the group for fraud. The laws and regulations we considered in this context for the UK operations were General Data Protection Regulation, Health and Safety legislation, Taxation legislation and employment legislation. We also considered compliance with local legislation for the group’s overseas operations. 

Auditing standards limit the required audit procedures to identify non-compliance with these laws and regulations to enquiry of the Trustees and other management and inspection of regulatory and legal correspondence, if any. 

We identified the greatest risk of material impact on the financial statements from irregularities, including fraud, to be within the timing of recognition of income and the override of controls by management. Our audit procedures to respond to these risks included enquiries of management, internal audit and the Audit Committee about their own identification and assessment of the risks of irregularities, sample testing on the posting of journals, reviewing accounting estimates for biases, reviewing regulatory 

**50** 

RCGP Accounts 2023 



Independent Auditor’s report 

correspondence with the Charity Commission and reading minutes of meetings of those charged with governance. 

Owing to the inherent limitations of an audit, there is an unavoidable risk that we may not have detected some material misstatements in the financial statements, even though we have properly planned and performed our audit in accordance with auditing standards. For example, the further removed noncompliance with laws and regulations (irregularities) is from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, the less likely the inherently limited procedures required by auditing standards would identify it. In addition, as with any audit, there remained a higher risk of non-detection of irregularities, as these may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal controls. We are not responsible for preventing non-compliance and cannot be expected to detect non-compliance with all laws and regulations. 

## Use of our report 

This report is made solely to the charity’s trustees, as a body, in accordance with Part 4 of the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 and Regulation 10 of the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charity’s trustees those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charity and the charity’s trustees as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed. 


## Crowe U.K. LLP Statutory Auditor London 

Crowe U.K. LLP is eligible for appointment as auditor of the charity by virtue of its eligibility for appointment as auditor of a company under section 1212 of the Companies Act 2006. 

Crowe U.K. LLP is eligible for appointment as auditor of the charity under regulation 10(2) of the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations by virtue of its eligibility under section 1212 of the Companies Act 2006. 

RCGP Accounts 2023 

**51** 



Consolidated statement of financial activities 

## Consolidated statement of financial activities 

|Note<br>**Income from:**<br>**_Charitable actvites_**<br>Project income<br>Examinaton fees<br>Membership income<br>Courses & events<br>Other income<br>**_Other trading actvites_**<br>Trading income from subsidiaries<br>Investment income<br>**Total income**<br>**Expenditure on:**<br>**_Raising funds_**<br>Trading expenditure<br>Investment management fees<br>**_Charitable actvites_**<br>Future of general practce<br>GP educaton<br>Supportng membership<br>Voice of General Practce<br>**Total expenditure**<br>20<br>Net income/(expenditure)<br>before gains<br>Net gains/(loss) on investments<br>25<br>Net gains on disposal of fxed<br>assets<br>**Net income / (expenditure)**<br>Transfers between funds<br>31, 32<br>Actuarial gains/(losses)<br>34<br>**Net movement in funds**<br>Balances at 1 April 2022<br>Balances at 31 March 2023|Unrestricted<br>Funds<br>£’000<br>Restricted<br>Funds<br>£’000<br>**Total**<br>**£’000**<br>2022<br>£’000<br>5,832<br>709<br>6,541<br>4,527<br>8,153<br>–<br>8,153<br>7,040<br>21,245<br>–<br>21,245<br>20,571<br>1,305<br>6<br>1,311<br>765<br>678<br>34<br>712<br>781<br>8,025<br>–<br>8,025<br>6,012<br>229<br>–<br>229<br>102|
|---|---|
||**45,467**<br>**749**<br>**46,216**<br>**39,798**|
||5,463<br>–<br>5,463<br>4,055<br>54<br>–<br>54<br>62|
||**5,517**<br>**–**<br>**5,517**<br>**4,117**|
||5,788<br>49<br>5,837<br>3,379<br>12,390<br>104<br>12,494<br>10,528<br>9,980<br>401<br>10,381<br>9,392<br>8,251<br>7<br>8,258<br>7,766|
||**36,409**<br>**561**<br>**36,970**<br>31,065|
|||
||**41,926**<br>**561**<br>**42,487**<br>**35,182**|
||**3,541**<br>**188**<br>**3,729**<br>**4,616**<br>(1,506)<br>–<br>**(1,506)**<br>1,610<br>(3)<br>–<br>**(3)**<br>–<br>**2,032**<br>**188**<br>**2,220**<br>**6,226**|
||13<br>(13)<br>**–**<br>–<br>(1,253)<br>–<br>(1,253)<br>3,190|
||792<br>175<br>**967**<br>9,416|
||63,660<br>1,102<br>64,762<br>55,346<br>**64,452**<br>**1,277**<br>**65,729**<br>64,762|



**52** 

RCGP Accounts 2023 



Balance sheet 

## Balance sheet 

|Note<br>**Fixed assets**<br>Tangible assets<br>24<br>Investments<br>25<br>Current assets<br>Stocks<br>Debtors<br>26<br>Short term deposits<br>27<br>Cash at bank and in hand<br>27<br>**Creditors:**<br>amounts falling due within one<br>year<br>28<br>**Net current assets/(liabilites)**<br>**Total assets less current liabilites**<br>**Creditors:**<br>amounts falling due afer one year 29<br>**Net assets excluding pension**<br>**liability**<br>Defned beneft pension scheme<br>liability<br>34<br>**Net assets including pension**<br>**liability**<br>**_Represented by:_**<br>Unrestricted funds<br>Designated funds<br>31<br>Pension defcit<br>34<br>General funds<br>Restricted funds<br>32<br>**Funds**|**College**<br>**2023**<br>£’000<br>63,818<br>12,709<br>76,527|College<br>2022<br>£’000<br>65,422<br>13,397<br>78,819|**Group**<br>**2023**<br>£’000<br>63,818<br>12,709<br>76,527|Group<br>2022<br>£’000<br>65,422<br>13,397<br>78,819|
|---|---|---|---|---|
||10<br>5,605<br>11,111<br>4,603|10<br>4,182<br>–<br>12,370|53<br>4,680<br>11,111<br>7,616|48<br>4,415<br>–<br>14,141|
||21,329<br>(18,415)|16,562<br>(14,638)|23,460<br>(20,546)|18,604<br>(16,680)|
||2,914|1,924|2,914|1,924|
||79,441<br>(13,297)|80,743<br>(15,830)|79,441<br>(13,297)|80,744<br>(15,830)|
||66,144<br>(415)<br>**65,729**|64,913<br>(151)<br>**64,762**|66,144<br>(415)<br>**65,729**|64,913<br>(151)<br>**64,762**|
||11,892<br>52,975<br>(415)|10,357<br>53,454<br>(151)|11,892<br>52,975<br>(415)|10,357<br>53,454<br>(151)|
||64,452<br>1,277|63,660<br>1,102|64,452<br>1,277|63,660<br>1,102|
||**65,729**|**64,762**|**65,729**|**64,762**|



Approved by the Trustee Board and signed on its behalf by: 


Prof. Mike Holmes FRCGP Chair of Trustee Board Approved on 27[th] July 2023 


Dr Steve Mowle FRCGP Honorary Treasurer 

**53** 

RCGP Accounts 2023 



Consolidated cash flow statement 

## Consolidated cash flow statement 

|**Cash fow statement**<br>Net cash infow from operatng actvites<br>Returns on investments and servicing of fnance:<br>Interest received<br>Dividends received<br>**Net cash infow from returns on investments**<br>Payments to acquire tangible fxed assets<br>Purchase of investments<br>Proceeds from disposal of investments<br>**Net cash outlow from investng actvites**<br>Pension defcit repayments<br>Capital repayment of secured loan<br>Interest payable on secured loan<br>Revaluaton of investment property<br>Interest rate swap liability<br>**Net cash outlow from fnancing actvites**<br>Cash infow / (outlow) before use of liquid resources<br>**Increase/Decrease in cash**<br>**Reconciliaton of incoming resources to operatonal cashfow**<br>Net incoming resources<br>Adjustment for investments<br>Adjustment for pension<br>Losses on disposal of fxed assets<br>Depreciaton<br>Interest payable on secured loan<br>Investment income and bank interest receivable<br>Decrease in stock<br>Decrease in debtors<br>Increase / (Decrease) in creditors<br>**Net cash infow from operatng actvites**|**2023**<br>£’000<br>8,448<br>109<br>120<br>229<br>(1,013)<br>–<br>–<br>(1,013)<br>(980)<br>(2,533)<br>(437)<br>–<br>871<br>(3,078)<br>4,586<br>**4,586**<br>**2023**<br>£’000<br>2,220<br>689<br>(9)<br>4<br>2,613<br>437<br>(229)<br>(6)<br>(264)<br>2,995<br>**8,448**|**2022**<br>£’000<br>10,026<br>–<br>102|
|---|---|---|
|||102<br>(882)<br>(1,062)<br>1,062<br>(882)|
|||(980)<br>(1,900)<br>(473)<br>(1,185)<br>(13)|
|||(4,551)<br>4,695|
|||**4,695**|
|||**2022**<br>£’000<br>6,226<br>(351)<br>75<br>–<br>2,959<br>473<br>(102)<br>(4)<br>(1,544)<br>2,294|
|||**10,026**|



RCGP Accounts 2023 

**54** 



Consolidated cash flow statement 

|**Reconciliaton of movement in net debt**<br>Increase in cash<br>Cash outlow from bank loan<br>Movement in net debt in the period<br>Net debt at 1 April 2022<br>Net debt at 31 March 2023<br>**Analysis of net debt**<br>Cash at bank and in hand (note 27)<br>Short term deposits<br>Bank loan due within one year (note 28)<br>Bank loan due afer one year (note 29)<br>Net debt at 31 March 2023|**2023**<br>£<br>2022<br>£<br>4,586<br>4,695<br>2,533<br>1,900|
|---|---|
||7,119<br>6,595<br>(4,222)<br>(10,817)|
||(2,897)<br>(4,222)|
||**2023**<br>£<br>2022<br>£<br>7,616<br>14,141<br>11,111<br>–<br>(2,533)<br>(2,533)<br>(13,297)<br>(15,830)|
||(2,897)<br>(4,222)|



RCGP Accounts 2023 

**55** 



Charity information 

## 1. Charity information 

The Royal College of General Practitioners is a Chartered Corporation and a registered charity, administered in accordance with its Royal Charter, Ordinances and Byelaws.  The Charter was granted to the College in 1972.  The Charity Registration Numbers are 223106 (England) and SC040430 (Scotland). The registered address is 30 Euston Square, London, NW1 2FB. 

## 2. Basis of accounting 

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) - (Charities SORP (FRS 102)), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102)). 

The financial statements have been prepared to give a ‘true and fair’ view and have departed from the Charities (accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 only to the extent required to provide a ‘true and fair view’. This departure has involved following Accounting and Reporting by Charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS102) rather than the Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice 2005 which has since been withdrawn. 

The Royal College of General Practitioners meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102. Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy notes. 

Trustees have considered several factors in concluding that the adoption of a going concern basis in the preparation of these financial statements is appropriate. These factors have included a summary of the key risks and uncertainties in the context of the College’s operations and a review of the budgets and forecasts for the next three years. The forecasts consider both immediate liquidity and longer-term solvency, together with the impact on reserves. 

For the period to 31 March 2026 the Board has considered the impact of a series of scenarios, detailing what is considered to be an assumed position against a ‘best-case’ and ‘worst-case’ scenario. Material differences between the scenarios result from assumptions relating to commercial use of the Head Office, member numbers and inflation. 

Working capital requirements are met through income received from business activities. The College has the ability to drawdown against funds held within the College’s investment portfolio if required. The College has a loan facility in place with Barclays Bank as detailed in note 29 to the financial statements. The College agreed a deferral of loan capital repayments for 12 months from June 2020 as part of the Finance Recovery Plan implemented in response to challenges presented by Covid. Repayment will be at the end of the loan term. 

Having regard to the financial models for the period to 2026 and the assumptions on which those are based, the Trustees believe it appropriate to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the financial statements. 

The consolidated accounts comprise the results of the College and its wholly owned subsidiary companies, RCGP Conferences Limited (company number 03896012 (England and Wales)), RCGP Enterprises Limited (company number 01984344 (England and Wales)) and RCGP International Limited (company number 12033221 (England and Wales)), made up to the balance sheet date. Accounts of all three companies will be filed with the Registrar of Companies. 

A separate statement of financial activities for the College is not presented as permitted by the SORP. The College has taken advantage of the exemption available to a qualifying entity in FRS102 from the requirement to present a College only cash flow statement. 

RCGP Accounts 2023 

**56** 



Income 

## 3. Income 

Income is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the item(s) of income have been met, it is probable that the income will be received, and the amount can be measured reliably. 

Membership/Examination income is credited to the statement of financial activities (SoFA) in the year to which it relates. 

Income from government and other grants, whether ‘capital’ grants or ‘revenue’ grants, is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the grants have been met, it is probable that the income will be received, and the amount can be measured reliably and is not deferred. 

Government grants are recognised on the accruals basis, when there is reasonable assurance that the College will comply with the conditions attaching to the grant and the grant will be received. 

## 4. Expenditure and the basis of apportioning costs 

Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to make a payment to a third party, it is probable that settlement will be required, and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Irrecoverable VAT is charged as a cost against the activity for which the expenditure was incurred. 

Expenditure comprises the following: 

- a) The costs of generating funds include the salaries, direct costs and overheads associated with generating income and the fees paid to the investment managers in connection with the management of the College’s investments portfolio. 

- b) Charitable activities comprise expenditure on the College’s primary charitable purposes as described in the Report of the Trustee Board on pages 5 to 45. Such costs include grants payable which are included within the SoFA when approved and when the intended recipient has either received the funds or has been informed of the decision to make the grant and has satisfied all related conditions. Grants approved but not paid at the end of the financial year are accrued for. 

- c) Support costs represent indirect charitable expenditure. In order to carry out the primary purposes of the College it is necessary to provide support in the form of personnel development, financial procedures, provision of office services and equipment and a suitable working environment. These costs are allocated out to the activities they are supporting on the basis of the number of employees and are described in note 20. 

## 5. Investments 

Listed investments are included in the balance sheet at their open market value at the end of the financial period. Realised and unrealised gains or losses are recorded in the SoFA in the year in which they arise. 

Investment property is revalued annually using a discounted cash flow approach to rental income. 

Investments in subsidiary companies are included at cost. 

## 6. Stocks 

All stocks are stated at the lower of cost and their net realisable value. 

RCGP Accounts 2023 

**57** 



Tangible fixed assets 

## 7. Tangible fixed assets 

All assets costing more than £5,000 and with an expected useful life expectancy exceeding one year are capitalised. The College also capitalises items of less than £5,000 which are part of the capital replacement programme. 

Freehold properties, comprising freehold buildings and freehold land owned by the College are stated in the accounts at cost. 

Freehold buildings which, following professional advice, are deemed to equate to 85% of the total cost of the freehold properties are depreciated over 50 years, on a straight-line basis. 

Finance costs and interest payments associated with the acquisition of fixed assets are not capitalised. 

No depreciation is charged on freehold land. 

Improvements to property are depreciated on a straight-line basis over five years. 

Furniture and equipment (other than computer equipment) are capitalised and depreciated on a straightline basis over two or five years determined by the useful life of the asset. 

Computer equipment, software and network systems are capitalised and depreciated over three years with the exception of servers and website which are depreciated over five years both on a straight-line basis and IT design equipment which is depreciated over 7 years. 

The CRM is capitalised and depreciated over 10 years. 

Website and Revalidation capitalisation - Design and content development costs have been capitalised only to the extent that they lead to the creation of an enduring asset delivering future economic benefits at least as great as the amount capitalised. The useful life has been determined to be five years with exception of software costs which have a three-year life and are both depreciated on a straight-line basis. The carrying value of the asset will be subject to annual impairment reviews. 

## 8. Debtors 

Trade and other debtors are recognised at the settlement amount due after any trade discount offered. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid net of any trade discounts due. 

## 9. Cash at bank and in hand 

Cash at bank and cash in hand includes cash and short term highly liquid investments with a short maturity of three months or less from the date of acquisition or opening of the deposit or similar account. 

## 10. Creditors and provisions 

Creditors and provisions are recognised where the charity has a present obligation resulting from a past event that will probably result in the transfer of funds to a third party and the amount due to settle the obligation can be measured or estimated reliably. Creditors and provisions are normally recognised at their settlement amount after allowing for any trade discounts due. 

## 11. Financial instruments 

The College only has financial assets and financial liabilities of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at their settlement value with the exception of bank loans which are subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method. Included in creditors is a total of £1.3m relating to the interest rate swap on the College’s loan. This is a derivative financial instrument which has been measured at fair value through the SoFA. 

Other basic financial instruments held by the college include investments measured at fair value through statement of financial activities, total value £12.7m (2022: £13.4m). 

**58** 

RCGP Accounts 2023 



Fund accounting 

## 12. Fund accounting 

Restricted funds comprise monies raised for, or have their use restricted to, a specific purpose, or contributions subject to donor-imposed conditions. 

Designated funds are unrestricted funds of the charity which the trustees have decided at their discretion to set aside to use for a specific purpose. 

General funds represent those monies which are freely available for application towards achieving any charitable purpose that falls within the College’s charitable objects. 

## 13. Councils and faculties 

Transactions, assets and liabilities of the Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland Councils and the individual faculties of the College are included in the SoFA and balance sheet of the College. 

## 14. Pension costs 

The College operates two pension schemes for or on behalf of eligible staff: 

- i) Group personal pension plan 

All staff are eligible to contribute to this scheme on joining the College. The College contributes 8% and employees contribute 4%, based on eligible employees’ pensionable earnings, which is payable to employees’ personal pension plans. Contributions by the College are recognised in the SoFA in the period to which they relate. 

- ii) Defined benefit pension plan 

The College contributes to a defined benefits pension scheme providing benefits based on final pensionable salary, which closed on 30 June 2006. Pensionable contributions are paid into the scheme in accordance with the recommendations of actuaries. 

The scheme is funded, with the assets of the scheme held separately from those of the College. 

Current service costs, past service costs, gains and losses on settlement and curtailments, interest on pension scheme liabilities and the expected return on pension scheme assets are charges to resources expended, allocated on the basis of the number of employees. 

Actuarial gains and losses are recognised immediately as other recognised gains and losses, after “net incoming/ (outgoing) resources for the year”. 

As detailed in note 34, pension scheme assets are measured at fair value and liabilities are measured on an actuarial basis and discounted at a rate equivalent to the current rate of return on a high-quality corporate bond of equivalent currency and term to the scheme liabilities. The actuarial valuations are obtained triennially and are updated at each balance sheet date. The resulting defined benefit pension scheme liability is presented separately after “net assets excluding pension liability” on the face of the balance sheet. 

## 15. Termination payments 

Termination payments are recognised as an expense in the SoFA when incurred. 

## 16. Leased assets: Lessor 

Rentals applicable to operating leases are charged to the SoFA on a straight-line basis over the period of the lease. 

**59** 

RCGP Accounts 2023 



Leased assets: Lessee 

## 17. Leased assets: Lessee 

Rentals applicable to operating leases are charged to the SoFA on a straight-line basis over the period of the lease. 

## 18. Related Party Transactions 

During the year the entity made payments for services of £114,278 to Health Education England for the secondment of Dr Steve Mowle (ex-officio Trustee) to fulfil duties as Honorary Treasurer. Professor Simon Gregory is also an employee of Health Education England. 

The entity made payments of £49,047 to Swansea University, of which Professor Kamila Hawthorne (exofficio Trustee) is an employee and received £144,120 for services provided by the entity in the prior year. There is no amount outstanding between the charity and this entity at year end. 

During the year the entity made the payments for services of £68,903 to Cambridgeshire and Peterborough CCG, of which Dr Gary Howsam is an employee. 

There is no amounts outstanding between the charity and this entity at year end. 

The entity made the payments of £45,949 to Unity Health, Princes Risborough, of which Dr Michael Mulholland (ex-officio Trustee) is a partner. 

The amount outstanding between the charity and this entities at year end was £8,354. 

During the year the entity made the payments for services of £29,292 to Holderness Health and Holderness Health, of which Margaret Ikpoh is a Trustee. 

The amount outstanding between the charity and this entities at year end was £2,611. 

During the year the entity made the payments for services of £510 to Dr Michael Holmes Limited, of which Dr Michael Holmes is a director. 

There is no amounts outstanding between the charity and this entities at year end. 

## 19. Critical accounting judgements and estimates 

The preparation of the Group financial statements requires the use of certain judgements, estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, income and expenses, including the assumptions associated with the College’s pension scheme liability and the estimates used to revalue the Investment property. Estimates and judgements are continually evaluated and are based on historical experience and other factors, including expectations of future events that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances. 

Changes in accounting estimates may be necessary if there are changes in the circumstances on which the estimate was based or as a result of new information or more experience, for example with the actuarial assumptions used for the pension scheme. 

**60** 

RCGP Accounts 2023 



Expenditure 

## 20. Expenditure 

|20. Expenditure||
|---|---|
|**_Cost of generatng funds_**<br>Fundraising costs<br>Commercial expenditure<br>Investment management<br>**_Charitable expenditure_**<br>Future of general practce<br>GP educaton<br>Supportng membership<br>Voice of General Practce<br>**Total**|Direct costs<br>£’000<br>Support costs<br>£’000<br>**Total**<br>**2023**<br>**£’000**<br>Total<br>2022<br>£’000<br>–<br>–<br>**–**<br>–<br>5,463<br>–<br>**5,463**<br>4,055<br>54<br>–<br>**54**<br>62<br>5,018<br>819<br>**5,837**<br>3,379<br>8,403<br>4,090<br>**12,494**<br>10,528<br>5,010<br>5,371<br>**10,381**<br>9,392<br>4,745<br>3,513<br>**8,258**<br>7,766|
||**28,693**<br>**13,794**<br>**42,487**<br>35,182|



Support costs total £13.8m (2022: £12.8m) for the year. These include property services, finance, IT, HR and other governance costs. These are allocated on a headcount basis as below. Included is £54.5k (2022: £46.5k) for audit fees. 

|**Support costs**<br>Finance & procurement<br>Property costs (including depreciaton)<br>Faculty & devolved council support<br>IT costs<br>HR (including pension costs)<br>Governance|**2023**<br>**£’000**<br>2022<br>£’000<br>1,856<br>1,734<br>6,208<br>5,334<br>370<br>208<br>4,599<br>4,854<br>606<br>608<br>100<br>103|
|---|---|
||**13,739**<br>12,841|



## 21. Grants payable 

During the year six (2022: five) grants were payable to individuals totalling £73k (2022: £63k). These grants were made in accordance with the policy outlined in the Trustees report. 

RCGP Accounts 2023 

**61** 



Employee information 

## 22. Employee information 

|Wages and salaries<br>Social security costs<br>Childcare Vouchers<br>Group personal pension plan costs|**2023**<br>**£’000**<br>2022<br>£’000|
|---|---|
||10,075<br>9,410<br>1,134<br>972<br>17<br>19<br>1,356<br>1,251|
||**12,582**<br>11,652|



The average number of employees during the year was as follows: 

|Cost of generatng funds, charitable actvites and governance<br>Support functon<br>Total|**2023**<br>2022|
|---|---|
||219<br>209<br>40<br>41|
||**259**<br>250|



At year end the number of employees whose emoluments exceeded £60k was: 

|£60,001 - £70,000<br>£70,001 - £80,000<br>£80,001 - £90,000<br>£90,001 - £100,000<br>£100,001 - £110,000<br>£110,001 - £120,000<br>£120,001 - £130,000<br>£130,001 - £140,000<br>£160,001 - £170,000|19<br>19<br>6<br>5<br>3<br>2<br>2<br>–<br>–<br>2<br>2<br>1<br>1<br>–<br>1<br>–<br>–<br>1|
|---|---|
||**34**<br>30|



During the year the College paid salaries, including Employer’s NI and pension, totalling £697,019 (2022: £699,743) to key management personnel as listed on page 7. 

During the year the College made redundancy payments of £9,599 (2022: £24,365) and there were no balances outstanding at year end (2022: £Nil). 

Employer pension contributions totalling £375k (2022: £308k) were made in respect of thirty four employees (2022: thirty) who earned total emoluments in excess of £60,000. 

**62** 

RCGP Accounts 2023 



Trustees’ and council members’ expenses 

## 23. Trustees’ and council members’ expenses 

Three ex-officio trustees are in Officer posts which are supported in line with RCGP’s remuneration policy and governing documents. It includes payments to the officers’ employers and practices which enable them time off from their regular employment to carry out their Officer duties. These are included in payments detailed under related party declarations No other Trustees or members of Council received any remuneration in respect of their services in those roles during the year (2022: none). 

Expenses in the year were paid to 38 Trustees and members of council (2022: 31) and comprised the following: 

|Locum fees<br>Travel and subsistence|**2023**<br>£’000<br>2022<br>£’000<br>75<br>77<br>20<br>6|
|---|---|
||**95**<br>83|



## 24. Tangible fixed assets 

|**Cost (£’000)**<br>At 1st April 2022<br>Additons<br>Disposals<br>At 31st March 2023<br>**Depreciaton**<br>**(£’000)**<br>At 1st April 2022<br>Charge for the year<br>Disposals<br>At 31st March 2023<br>**Net book values**<br>**(£’000)**<br>**At 31st March 2023**<br>At 31st March 2022|**Freehold**<br>**propertes**<br>**Furniture and**<br>**equipment**<br>**Computer**<br>**and network**<br>**systems**<br>**Revalidaton**<br>**system and**<br>**website**<br>**College and**<br>**Group Total**|
|---|---|
||71,342<br>3,323<br>8,154<br>960<br>83,779<br>125<br>681<br>207<br>–<br>1,013<br>–<br>(5)<br>(496)<br>–<br>(501)|
||71,467<br>3,999<br>7,865<br>960<br>84,291|
||10,956<br>2,106<br>4,994<br>302<br>18,358<br>1,203<br>481<br>737<br>192<br>2,613<br>–<br>(5)<br>(493)<br>–<br>(498)|
||12,159<br>2,582<br>5,238<br>494<br>20,473|
|||
||**59,308**<br>**1,417**<br>**2,628**<br>**466**<br>**63,818**|
|||
||60,386<br>1,217<br>3,160<br>659<br>65,422|



Assets under construction costing £0.03m are included in Computer and network systems and £0.44m is included in Furniture and Equipment. 

£1.2m of assets under construction have been completed in the year and transferred to Computer and network systems (£0.5m) and Furniture and equipment (£0.5m) and Freehold Properties (£0.2m). 

Freehold property includes 30 Euston Square, London and in the opinion of the Trustee Board the market value of the property is considerably in excess of their cost. 

**63** 

RCGP Accounts 2023 



Investments 

## 25. Investments 

|25. Investments|||
|---|---|---|
|**Listed investments**<br>Market value at 1 April 2022<br>Additons at cost<br>Disposals at opening market value<br>Realised gains on disposal<br>Net unrealised investment gains/(losses)<br>Market value at 31 March 2023<br>Investment property<br>**Total**|College<br>**2023**<br>£’000<br>2022<br>£’000<br>9,353<br>9,002<br>–<br>1,062<br>–<br>(1,062)<br>–<br>282<br>(688)`*`<br>69<br>**8,665**<br>9,353<br>4,044<br>4,044<br>**12,709**<br>13,397|Group<br>**2023**<br>£’000<br>2022<br>£’000<br>9,353<br>9,002<br>–<br>1,062<br>–<br>(1,062)<br>–<br>282<br>(688)<br>69|
|||**8,665**<br>9,353|
|||4,044<br>4,044|
|||**12,709**<br>13,397|



*Net loss on investments of £1.5m (2022: gain £1.6m) recognised in the SOFA includes the loss of £0.7m (2022: gain £0.4m) on investments and a loss of £0.9m (2022: £0.01m) on the revaluation of the interest rate swap detailed in Note 28.  The gain in 2022 also included a gain on the revaluation of the investment property.  The investment property value has not changed in 2023. 

|Turnover<br>Cost of sales<br>Gross proft<br>Administratve expenses<br>Operatng proft<br>Gif aid to parent<br>Net proft for year<br>Assets<br>Liabilites<br>Net assets|RCGP Enterprises Ltd<br>RCGP Conferences Ltd<br>RCGP Internatonal Ltd<br>**2023**<br>£’000<br>2022<br>£’000<br>**2023**<br>£’000<br>2022<br>£’000<br>**2023**<br>£’000<br>2022<br>£’000<br>6,609<br>4,060<br>1,815<br>2,028<br>53<br>46<br>(5,007)<br>(3,380)<br>(1,182)<br>(1,440)<br>(37)<br>(30)|
|---|---|
||1,602<br>680<br>633<br>588<br>16<br>16<br>(70)<br>(27)<br>(52)<br>(55)<br>(4)<br>(3)|
||1,532<br>653<br>581<br>533<br>12<br>13<br>(1,532)<br>(653)<br>(581)<br>(533)<br>(12)<br>(22)|
||–<br>–<br>–<br>–<br>–<br>(9)|
||3,290<br>1,787<br>1,319<br>1,783<br>82<br>82<br>(3,290)<br>(1,787)<br>(1,319)<br>(1,783)<br>(82)<br>(82)|
||–<br>–<br>–<br>–<br>–<br>–|



The College owns the entire share capital of RCGP Enterprises Limited, RCGP Conferences Limited and RCGP International Limited, all registered in England and Wales. All three entities traded in the year, RCGP Enterprises Limited providing catering and event income from room hire at 30 Euston Square, RCGP Conferences Limited the annual conference and other events and RCGP International Limited providing consultancy services for overseas customers. At year-end both RCGP Enterprises Limited, RCGP Conferences Limited and RCGP International Limited had net assets of £1 (2022: £1). 

RCGP Accounts 2023 

**64** 



Debtors 

During the year RCGP Enterprises made £0.4m sales of room hire and catering services to the College (2022: £0.1m). At year-end there is a balance of £1.5m owing from RCGP Enterprises Limited to College (2022: £0.2m owing from RCGP Enterprises Limited to College). 

During the year RCGP Conferences made £0.01m sales of publishing services to the College (2022: £0.01m) and received £0.01m marketing services from the College (2022: £Nil). At year end there is a balance of £1m (2022: £0.9m) owing from RCGP Conferences Limited to the College. 

RCGP International made no sales of consultancy services to the College (2022: £Nil). At year end there is a balance of £0.08m (2022: £0.06m) owing from RCGP International Limited to the College. 

The balance included in investments for investment property is the valuation applied to the area of 30 Euston Square available for rental to 3rd parties. The valuation has been independently valued by a valuer who is qualified for the purposes required using a discounted cashflow model based on forecast yields. 

## 26. Debtors 

|Trade debtors<br>Other debtors<br>Accrued income<br>Amount due from RCGP Conferences<br>Limited<br>Amount due from RCGP Enterprises<br>Limited<br>Amount due from RCGP Internatonal<br>Limited<br>Prepayments|College<br>**2023**<br>£’000<br>2022<br>£’000<br>2,324<br>1,839<br>2<br>–<br>215<br>162<br>1,015<br>888<br>1,466<br>642<br>77<br>64<br>506<br>587<br>**5,605**<br>4,182|Group<br>**2023**<br>£’000<br>2022<br>£’000<br>3,542<br>2,794<br>2<br>42<br>256<br>990<br>–<br>–<br>–<br>–<br>–<br>–<br>880<br>589|Group<br>**2023**<br>£’000<br>2022<br>£’000<br>3,542<br>2,794<br>2<br>42<br>256<br>990<br>–<br>–<br>–<br>–<br>–<br>–<br>880<br>589|
|---|---|---|---|
||**5,605**|**4,680**|4,415|



## 27. Cash at bank and short term deposits 

Cash at bank 

|Cash at bank|||
|---|---|---|
|Current accounts<br>Facultes’ current and deposit accounts|College<br>**2023**<br>£’000<br>2022<br>£’000<br>4,158<br>11,591<br>445<br>779<br>**4,603**<br>12,370|Group<br>**2023**<br>£’000<br>2022<br>£’000<br>7,171<br>13,362<br>445<br>779|
|||**7,616**<br>14,141|



## Short term deposit 

Cash of £11m is held on short term deposits to take advantage of the current higher interest rates. 

RCGP Accounts 2023 

**65** 



Creditors 

## 28. Creditors 

|Trade creditors<br>Income received in advance<br>Accruals<br>Taxaton and social security<br>Barclays Loan due within one year<br>Other creditors<br>Interest rate swap|College<br>**2023**<br>£’000<br>2022<br>£’000<br>1,652<br>1,320<br>5,366<br>5,534<br>6,461<br>3,832<br>754<br>682<br>2,533<br>2,533<br>315<br>275<br>1,334<br>462<br>**18,415**<br>**14,638**|Group<br>**2023**<br>£’000<br>2022<br>£’000<br>1,684<br>1,432<br>7,181<br>6,677<br>6,569<br>4,629<br>930<br>672<br>2,533<br>2,533<br>315<br>275<br>1,334<br>462|Group<br>**2023**<br>£’000<br>2022<br>£’000<br>1,684<br>1,432<br>7,181<br>6,677<br>6,569<br>4,629<br>930<br>672<br>2,533<br>2,533<br>315<br>275<br>1,334<br>462|
|---|---|---|---|
||**18,415**|**20,546**|**16,680**|



The interest rate swap is valued at the present value of future cash flows estimated and discounted based on the applicable yield curves derived from quoted interest rates. It has an average fixed rate of 2.662%, the notional principal value is £15.833m and is shown at fair value of £1.3m. 

|**Reconciliaton of deferred income**<br>Balance brought forward<br>Released to SoFA<br>Deferred in year<br>Balance carried forward|College<br>**2023**<br>£’000<br>2022<br>£’000<br>5,534<br>3,602<br>(5,534)<br>(3,602)<br>5,366<br>5,534<br>**5,366**<br>5,534|Group<br>**2023**<br>£’000<br>2022<br>£’000<br>6,677<br>4,829<br>(6,677)<br>(4,829)<br>7,181<br>6,677|Group<br>**2023**<br>£’000<br>2022<br>£’000<br>6,677<br>4,829<br>(6,677)<br>(4,829)<br>7,181<br>6,677|
|---|---|---|---|
||**5,366**|**7,181**|6,677|



## 29. Creditors: amounts falling due after more than one year 

|Bank loan due between 2 & 5 years<br>Bank Loan due afer 5 years|College<br>**2023**<br>**£’000**<br>2022<br>£’000<br>10,133<br>10,133<br>3,164<br>5,697<br>**13,297**<br>15,830|Group<br>**2023**<br>**£’000**<br>2022<br>£’000<br>10,133<br>10,133<br>3,164<br>5,697|Group<br>**2023**<br>**£’000**<br>2022<br>£’000<br>10,133<br>10,133<br>3,164<br>5,697|
|---|---|---|---|
||**13,297**|**13,297**|15,830|



The College has entered into an agreement with Barclays Bank plc for a development and term loan facility of up to £32m.  The bank loan is secured by way of a first legal charge over the College’s headquarters (that is, 30 Euston Square, London, NW1 2FB). 

The College’s exposure to interest rate fluctuations on the loan has been managed by using an interest rate swap. An agreement was signed in July 2016 to fix the interest costs on the loan at 2.662%. 

RCGP Accounts 2023 

**66** 



Operating leases 

## 30. Operating leases 

|Operatng lease due within 1 year<br>Operatng lease due within 2 to 5 years<br>Operatng lease due over 5 years|College<br>**2023**<br>**£’000**<br>2022<br>£’000<br>233<br>212<br>577<br>498<br>470<br>371<br>**1,280**<br>1,081|Group<br>**2023**<br>**£’000**<br>2022<br>£’000<br>233<br>212<br>577<br>498<br>470<br>371|
|---|---|---|
|||**1,280**<br>1,081|



Operating leases relate to IT equipment and property leases. Renewals for IT equipment are at the option of the lessee. The annual lease cost is £231k (2022: £211k). 

## 31. General and designated funds 

|Internatonal<br>Educaton<br>Special measures &<br>other projects<br>Fixed Assets<br>Designated Fund<br>**Total Designated**<br>**Funds**<br>**General funds**<br>**Pension funds**<br>**Total Unrestricted**<br>**funds**|At 1 April<br>2022<br>£’000<br>97<br>88<br>2,165<br>51,104|Income<br>£’000<br>–<br>82<br>321<br>–|Expenditure<br>£’000<br>–<br>(1)<br>(191)<br>–|Realised and<br>unrealised<br>gains/(loss)<br>£’000<br>–<br>–<br>–<br>–|Transfers<br>£’000<br>–<br>–<br>(1,620)<br>930|**At 31 March**<br>**2023**<br>£’000<br>97<br>169<br>675<br>52,034|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||**53,454**|403|(192)|–|(690)|**52,975**|
||||||||
||**10,357**|45,064|(41,747)|(1,506)|(276)|**11,892**|
||**(151)**|–|9|(1,253)|980|**(415)**|
||**63,660**|45,467|(41,926)|(2,762)|13|**64,452**|



**International Fund –** This fund was set up following the introduction of the MRCGP International programme to support the development of general practice/family medicine world-wide and in raising standards of the discipline, being of equivalent academic rigour to the MRCGP in the UK. A new category of International Member was created, and the designation MRCGP [INT] will be in addition to the qualification awarded by the relevant national bodies in the countries concerned, which fund the accreditation process. These are expected to be utilised over the next few years. 

**Education –** These relate to projects the College is undertaking delivering education programs for General Practice, primarily in e-Learning. These will be spent over the development of the various projects, which is normally 1 year. 

**Special measures and other projects –** This is project funding relating to work the College does that concentrates on the development and establishment of educational resources, tools and guidance to enhance and develop the skills of healthcare professionals to support positive patient outcomes.  It includes funding for work to deliver clinical innovation and research. It is anticipated the fund will be spent over the life span of the projects which is normally a year. 

RCGP Accounts 2023 

**67** 



Restricted funds 

**Fixed Asset Designated Fund –** The charity has established a separate reserve to reflect a proportion of the value of the College’s building assets and other assets to prevent the general reserves being overstated by the inclusion of assets which are part of its permanent operating structure. This reserve is different from other reserves as it cannot be realised for cash purposes (e.g. as in charging any other fees or costs that are payable by means of cash going out – this is what we normally do for most designated funds). Transfers represent the net effect of additions to the assets, depreciation on the asset and repayment of the loan secured against the building. 

## 32. Restricted funds 

|Kuenssberg Prize<br>Other secretariat<br>funds<br>Other internatonal<br>funds<br>OLE & educatonal<br>Research Projects<br>Other Scotsh Funds<br>Welsh funds<br>Special measures &<br>other projects<br>Facultes funds<br>**Total Restricted Funds**|At 1 April<br>2022<br>£’000<br>**109**<br>**52**<br>**125**<br>**141**<br>**121**<br>**215**<br>**25**<br>–<br>**314**|Income<br>£’000<br>–<br>–<br>27<br>134<br>–<br>266<br>89<br>220<br>13|Expenditure<br>£’000<br>–<br>(2)<br>(4)<br>(99)<br>(1)<br>(326)<br>(65)<br>(45)<br>(19)|Realised and<br>unrealised<br>gains/(loss<br>£’000)<br>–<br>–<br>–<br>–<br>–<br>–<br>–<br>–<br>–|Transfers<br>£’000<br>–<br>–<br>–<br>(41)<br>(19)<br>–<br>–<br>47<br>–|**At 31 March**<br>**2023**<br>**£’000**<br>**109**<br>**50**<br>**148**<br>**135**<br>**101**<br>**155**<br>**49**<br>**222**<br>**308**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||**1,102**|749|(561)|–|(13)|**1,277**|



**Kuenssberg prize –** This is awarded to those who have had an impact on clinical excellence or patient safety in general practice. 

**OLE & educational –** These relate to projects the College is undertaking delivering education programs for General Practice, primarily in e-learning on specific topics. These will be spent over the development of the various projects, which is normally 1 year.  Restricted funds also include funds for the ongoing maintenance and development of the online learning platform 

**Research projects –** These funds represent grant project income for clinical innovation and research. Included in the balance is £100k for research into Adolescent special interest groups.  Transfer out of the fund represent reclassification of management fees from unrestricted fund. 

**Scottish appeal fund –** This appeal was established to develop the College in Scotland and included in the balance is a fund to investigate health inequalities in Scotland 

**Faculties funds –** These funds are grants held by individual faculties for a range of purposes. 

**68** 

RCGP Accounts 2023 



Analysis of net assets between funds 

## 33. Analysis of net assets between funds 

|Tangible fxed assets<br>Investments<br>Net current assets<br>Amounts falling due afer one year<br>Net assets excluding pension liability<br>Pension liability<br>Net assets including pension liability|Unrestricted<br>funds<br>£’000<br>63,818<br>11,432<br>2,914<br>(13,297)|Restricted<br>funds<br>£’000<br>–<br>1,277<br>–<br>–|Total 2023<br>£’000<br>63,818<br>12,709<br>2,914<br>(13,297)|
|---|---|---|---|
||64,867<br>(415)|1,277<br>–|**66,144**<br>(415)|
||64,452|1,277|**65,729**|



## 34. Pension commitments 

As described in Note 14, the College operates two pension schemes, one of which is a defined benefits scheme. The assets of this scheme are held separately from those of the College, being invested with a range of investment managers via an investment platform provided by Mobius Life Limited. 

The last formal actuarial valuation was at 1 April 2020. Pension deficit funding contributions was agreed at £1.0m per annum from April 2018. 

The level of funding at 1 April 2020 was 72%, and the market value of the fund at the time of the last valuation was £472m. The pension contribution for the year was £1.0m (2022: £1.0m), and no amounts were outstanding at the year end. 

Financial Reporting Standard 102 (FRS102) requires the surplus or deficit on the Scheme as at 31 March 2023, calculated in accordance with the requirements of the FRS102, to be included on the balance sheet. 

For the purpose of FRS102, the assets of the Scheme have been taken at market value and the liabilities have been calculated by a qualified independent actuary. The major assumptions used by the actuary were: 

||**2023**|2022|2021|2020|2019|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||**%**|%|%|%|%|
|Rate of increase in salaries|**2.45**|3.05|2.65|2.05|2.45|
|LPI pension increases (based on RPI||||||
|subject to a maximum of 5% p.a.)|**3.30**|3.65|3.30|2.80|3.45|
|Discount rate|**4.70**|2.75|2.00|2.30|2.45|
|RPI Infaton assumpton|**3.45**|3.85|3.45|2.85|3.45|
|CPI Infaton assumpton|**2.45**|3.05|2.65|2.05|2.45|



The underlying mortality assumption is based upon the standard table known as S3PA Light on the year of birth usage with CMI_2021 future improvement factors (2022: CMI_2019 future improvement factors) and a long-term rate of future improvement equal to 1.25% p.a (2022: same).  This gives the following life expectancies in years at 60, for members aged either 45 or 60 at 31 March 2023 (with comparative figures based on mortality assumptions used at previous year end). 

**69** 

RCGP Accounts 2023 



Pension commitments 

|||Value at 31|||Value at 31|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||March 2023|||March 2022|||
|||£’000|%||£’000||%|
|Equity and property||5,637|**25**||9,521||**31**|
|GARS & LDI Funds||16,686|**74**||20,886||**68**|
|Cash||225|**1**||307||1|
||||**100**||||100|
|Total market value of assets||22,548|||30,714|||
|Present Value of Scheme Liabilites||(22,963)|||(30,865)|||
|Net Pension Liability||(415)|||(151)|||
|Movement in defcit during year<br>Defcit at 1 April<br>Contributons<br>Other fnance costs<br>Actuarial gain/(loss)||2023<br>£’000<br>**(151)**<br>**980**<br>**9**<br>**(1,253)**|2022<br>£’000<br>(4,246)<br>980<br>(75)<br>3190|||||
|Surplus/(Defcit) at 31 March||**(415)**|(151)|||||
|**Analysis of amount charged to Statement**|**of**|**Financial Actvites**|||**2023**<br>£’000||2022<br>£’000|
|Other fnance cost|||||9||(75)|
|Total operatng charge|||||**9**||(75)|
|Analysis of net return on pension scheme||||||||
|Expected return on pension scheme assets|||||830||750|
|Interest on pension liabilites|||||(839)||(675)|
|Net return|||||**(9)**||**75**|
|Actual return on Scheme assets|||||(8,437)||523|
|Amounts recognised as Pension Scheme gains and losses||||||||
|Actual return less expected return on pension scheme assets|||||(9,285)||(77)|
|Experience gains and losses arising on scheme liabilites|||||(708)||(169)|
|Change in fnancial and demographic assumptons underlying scheme assets|||||8,740||3,436|
|Actuarial gain/(loss) recognised in the Statement of Financial Actvites|||||**(1,253)**||**3,190**|



**70** 

RCGP Accounts 2023 



Pension commitments 

|Cumulatve amount of actuarial gains and losses recognised for the year ending 31<br>March 2023 are as follows:<br>Cumulatve actuarial (loss) at beginning of the period<br>Recognised during the period<br>Cumulatve actuarial (loss) at end of the period<br>Movement in (defcit) during the year ending 31 March 2023 are as follows:<br>(Defcit) in Scheme at the beginning of year<br>Expenses recognised in proft and loss<br>Contributon paid by the College<br>Actuarial gain/(loss)<br>(Defcit) in Scheme at the end of the year<br>Changes in the present values of the Scheme liabilites for the year ending 31<br>March 2023 are as follows:<br>Present value of Scheme liabilites at the beginning of period<br>Interest cost<br>Actuarial losses/(gains)<br>(Gains)/Losses on plan changes<br>Benefts paid<br>Present value of Scheme liabilites at end of period<br>Changes in the present values of the Scheme assets for the year ending 31 March<br>2023 are as follows:<br>Market Value of Scheme assets at the beginning of period<br>Expected return<br>Actuarial gains<br>Benefts paid<br>Contributons paid by the College<br>Market value of Scheme assets at the end of period|**2023**<br>**£’000**|2022<br>£’000|
|---|---|---|
||(9,219)<br>(1,253)|(12,409)<br>3,190|
||**(10,472)**|**(9,219)**|
||(151)<br>9<br>980<br>(1,253)|(4,246)<br>(75)<br>980<br>3,190|
||**(415)**|**(151)**|
||30,865<br>839<br>(8,032)<br>–<br>(709)|34,064<br>675<br>(3,267)<br>–<br>(607)|
||**22,963**|**30,865**|
||30,714<br>848<br>(709)<br>(9,285)<br>980|29,818<br>600<br>(607)<br>(77)<br>980|
||**22,548**|**30,714**|



## Group Personal Pension Plan 

On 1 July 2006, the College established a Group Personal Pension Plan with Aviva into which it contributes a maximum of 8% of basic annual salary provided the employee also contributes a minimum of 4%.  In order to comply with legislation, a Stakeholder Plan was also established but no employer contribution is paid into this arrangement and, to date, nobody has joined. 

The assets of the Group Personal Pension Plan are held separately from those of the College and are invested by Aviva. The total employer contribution for the year was £1.4m (2022: £1.3m) The pension contribution outstanding at 31 March 2023 was £0.1m (2022: £0.1m). 

RCGP Accounts 2023 

**71** 



Prior year financial information 

## 35. Prior year financial information 

|Note<br>**Income from:**<br>**_Charitable actvites_**<br>Project income<br>Examinaton fees<br>Membership income<br>Courses & events<br>Other income<br>**_Other trading actvites_**<br>Trading income from subsidiaries<br>Investment income<br>**Total income**<br>**Expenditure on:**<br>**_Raising funds_**<br>Trading expenditure<br>Investment management fees<br>**_Charitable actvites_**<br>Future of general practce<br>GP educaton<br>Supportng membership<br>Voice of General Practce<br>**Total expenditure**<br>20<br>Net income / (expenditure) before gains<br>Net gains on investments<br>25<br>Net gains on disposal of fxed assets<br>**Net income / (expenditure)**<br>Transfers between funds<br>31, 32<br>Actuarial gains/(losses)<br>34<br>**Net movement in funds**<br>Balances at 1 April 2021<br>Balances at 31 March 2022|Unrestricted<br>Funds<br>£’000<br>Restricted<br>Funds<br>£’000<br>**2022**<br>**Total**<br>£’000<br>3,899<br>628<br>4,527<br>7,040<br>–<br>7,040<br>20,571<br>–<br>20,571<br>753<br>12<br>765<br>711<br>70<br>781<br>6,012<br>–<br>6,012<br>102<br>–<br>102|
|---|---|
||**39,088**<br>**710**<br>**39,798**|
||4,055<br>–<br>4,055<br>62<br>–<br>62|
||**4,117**<br>–<br>**4,117**|
||3,231<br>148<br>3,379<br>10,102<br>426<br>10,528<br>9,179<br>213<br>9,392<br>7,764<br>2<br>7,766|
||**30,276**<br>**789**<br>**31,065**|
|||
||**34,393**<br>**789**<br>**35,182**|
||**4,695**<br>**(79)**<br>**4,616**<br>1,610<br>–<br>**1,610**<br>–<br>–<br>–<br>**6,305**<br>**(79)**<br>**6,226**|
||288<br>(288)<br>**–**<br>3,190<br>–<br>3,190|
||9,783<br>(367)<br>**9,416**|
||53,877<br>1,469<br>55,346<br>**63,660**<br>**1,102**<br>**64,762**|



**72** 

RCGP Accounts 2023 



Restricted funds 

## 36. Restricted funds 

|Kuenssberg Prize<br>Other secretariat funds<br>Other internatonal funds<br>OLE & educatonal<br>Research Projects<br>Other Scotsh Funds<br>Welsh funds<br>Facultes funds<br>**Total Restricted Funds**|At 1 April<br>2021 £’000<br>Income<br>£’000<br>Expense<br>£’000<br>Realised<br>and<br>Unrealised<br>gains/(loss)<br>£’000<br>Transfers<br>£’000<br>**At 31**<br>**March**<br>**2022 £’000**<br>**110**<br>–<br>–<br>–<br>–<br>**109**<br>**53**<br>–<br>(2)<br>–<br>1<br>**52**<br>**135**<br>1<br>–<br>–<br>(11)<br>**125**<br>**411**<br>439<br>(536)<br>–<br>(174)<br>**141**<br>**214**<br>31<br>(37)<br>–<br>(87)<br>**121**<br>**189**<br>239<br>(213)<br>–<br>–<br>**215**<br>**48**<br>–<br>–<br>–<br>(23)<br>**25**<br>**309**<br>–<br>(1)<br>–<br>6<br>**314**|
|---|---|
||**1,469**<br>710<br>(789)<br>–<br>(288)<br>**1,102**|



## 37. Analysis of net assets between funds 

|Tangible fxed assets<br>Investments<br>Net current assets<br>Amounts falling due afer one year<br>Net assets excluding pension liability<br>Pension liability<br>Net assets including pension liability|Unrestricted<br>funds<br>£’000<br>65,422<br>12,295<br>1,924<br>(15,830)|Restricted<br>funds<br>£’000<br>–<br>1,102<br>–<br>–|Total<br>2022<br>£’000<br>65,422<br>13,397<br>1,924<br>(15,830)|
|---|---|---|---|
||63,811<br>(151)|1,102<br>–|**64,913**<br>(151)|
||63,660|1,102|64,762|



**73** 

RCGP Accounts 2023 



General and designated funds 

## 38. General and designated funds 

|Internatonal<br>Educaton<br>Special measures & other projects<br>Research Projects<br>Fixed Assets Designated Fund<br>**Total Designated Funds**<br>**General funds**<br>**Pension funds**<br>**Total Unrestricted Funds**|At 1 April<br>2021<br>£’000<br>122<br>165<br>487<br>1,636<br>50,095|Income<br>£’000<br>–<br>–<br>–<br>–<br>–|Expenditure<br>£’000<br>(16)<br>(38)<br>(2)<br>(1,248)<br>–|Realised<br>and<br>unrealised<br>gains/(loss)<br>£’000<br>–<br>–<br>–<br>–<br>1,186|Transfers<br>£’000<br>(9)<br>(39)<br>(199)<br>1,491<br>(177)|**At 31**<br>**March**<br>**2022**<br>£’000<br>97<br>88<br>286<br>1,879<br>51,104|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||**52,505**|–|(1,304)|1,186|1,067|**53,454**|
||||||||
||**5,618**|39,088|(33,015)|425|(1,759)|**10,357**|
||**(4,246)**|–|(75)|3,190|980|**(151)**|
||**53,877**|39,088|(34,394)|4,801|288|**63,660**|



RCGP Accounts 2023 

**74** 

