We’re delighted to share the following report which featured in The College of Medicine’s Annual Meeting in July, with our Chair, Dr Michael Dixon, addressing Members, Council and Trustees…
Welcome to the Annual Meeting of the College of Medicine and Integrated Health. This gives me an opportunity to share with you what we have been doing in 2023/24 and update you on our future plans for the College. This is our fourth virtual meeting – clearly good for the carbon footprint – last year members decided they were happy to continue to hold the annual meeting on line and use other opportunities to meet face to face...
The College of Medicine’s Chair, Dr Michael Dixon
KEY ACHIEVEMENTS
Let me start with some of our key achievements over the past 12 months:
Social Prescribing
The College was the birthplace of social prescribing and hosts the National Social Prescribing Network with over 3,000 movers and shakers in social prescribing. Today there are 3,500 social prescribing link workers in England and rising fast with social prescribing now being available throughout the NHS.
It is also now being taken up in 30 countries worldwide – all at various stages in its development – and part of the Global Alliance supported by WHO and the UN. I believe we have created together an unstoppable movement, which as Sir Michael Marmot has said, is one of the most powerful answers to this country’s health inequalities and a Trojan Horse for enabling health creating communities. It is also changing the face of medicine with a very recent survey showing that 97% of GPs are now favourable to social prescribing.
Beyond Pills Alliance
Allied to our work on social prescribing has been our “Beyond Pills Campaign” now known as Beyond Pills Alliance, co-founded by the College of Medicine that was triggered by the last Chief Pharmacist’s report showing that we prescribe 10% too many drugs in the NHS. Our message is that instead of always reaching for the pills, we should look at how people might be healed by changing their lifestyle and using the physical and social resources within the communities where we live.
Numerous Colleges and professional organisations are now signed up to our campaign, which will be moving up a gear in the autumn with some very powerful allies helping us to lead the next step in this campaign.
This has now has now been taken over by the APPG and this is now known as beyond pills alliance and is the non parliamentary wing of the Beyond Pills all party parliamentary group which launched in December 2023, bringing together the APPG for prescribed drug dependence and the College of Medicine Beyond Pills Campaign.
Integrative and Personalised Medicine Conference 2024
At the beginning of June, we had our third three-day conference on integrative and personalised medicine with over 2414 registered from 52 countries (15% increase from 2023) This is now the largest and most significant international conference of its kind and provides a unique opportunity to showcase, celebrate and spread new ideas in integrated medicine. We owe many thanks to Progressive Communications for their organisation of it.
Useful stats about IPM Congress
• Delegates 831 (38%) – 20% increase from 2023 (138 people)
• Visitors 791 (36%) – 25% increase from 2023 (158 people)
• Exhibitors 561 (26%) – 10% increase from 2023 (50 people)
Prescribing in Schools
The College’s three schools social prescribing project has concluded. We have learnt much from the schools in London, Dorset and Devon and the final phase reviewed a very successful social prescribing initiative in schools based in Cornwall, this has given us a much clearer idea of where social prescribing in schools now needs to go. The report will soon be published.
Twinned Farms/GP Practices
Meanwhile our Twinned Farms/GP Practices Project – the brainchild of His Majesty The King – is showing us how extraordinary things can happen when you twin farms with GP practices. This project was led by the College with the Sustainable Food Trust, representing the farming angle and our Professor Debbie Sharp leading the evaluation. Many thanks to Amy and Jonathan Lam for supporting this ground breaking project.
Integrated Medicine Alliance
The Integrated Medicine Alliance (IMA) goes from strength to strength and with many thanks to Dr Naveed Akhtar, who Co-Chairs this with me. IMA is a first – bringing together the leaders and different modalities of complementary medicine with the aim of educating both patients and clinicians on complementary therapies and how best to use them and their practitioners. September was the launch of webinars teaching link workers about complementary medicines, Link workers are key to linking their clients to anything that might potentially improve their health and welfare.
Another initiative I would like to mention is Dr Laura Marshall-Andrews’ group bringing together projects and GP practices that are in the vanguard of integrated health and care, we are calling this the College of Medicine’s SAGE practises project to embody the wisdom of both the herb and the philosophy behind it. The eventual aim of this group is to develop a national presence and website celebrating good practice in integrated health and care and eventually a College kitemark signifying that an organisation such as a GP practice is committed to providing integrated health and care. If you or your colleagues would like to get involved we will be looking for volunteers once a funding stream has been secured.
Future Health Leaders
The past 12 months has seen the development of this key project, able led by our young doctors, BCG, EC and HK. They have established the first cohort and run mentorship sessions to help embed the leadership skills needed for doctors and AHPs facing a challenging future in the NHS.
Future events are planned. The Commonwealth Young leaders have also developed their cohort of young people who will be the bedrock of the healthcare profession. The plan is to integrate these two groups at a future date.
One of our Future Health Leaders, Dr Mohsin Choudry
Eatwell Community
Later in the meeting you will hear some very welcome news as we work to establish a series of communities that will seek to enhance a healthy community based approach to food.
Finally, the last 12 months have seen us continue with many of our virtual programmes and classes as well as being able to recommence some of our more face-to-face events. A special thank you to the teachers that have made this possible including Sarah Bazin, Freddy Jacquin, Heather Richards, Deniah Pachai, George Ampat, Sara Kay and many others.
You will be hearing more about our various projects later and it remains for me to give thanks to the huge number of people, who keep the College going from day to day, we are reliant on the voluntary support you all give.
Update on the team
First of all, I am grateful for the tireless work of our CEO, Amanda King, who continues to lead the day-to-day management of the College’s infrastructure and activities – how she does it – I simply do not know!
Thanks also to Sue Tait, Colleen Lally, Claire Gaskin, Emma White and Kay Bryn-Hussey for their crucial work in supporting Amanda with the everyday running of the College.
Jo Tweedy continues to use her brilliant writing skills as Communications Chief for our website and social media. We are particularly indebted to Sarah Stacey for her continued vision and expertise in delivering the Beyond Pills Alliance. Going forward the College is going to be aligning our Council to our important workstreams – watch this space.
Thanks to our Trustees – Chaired by Simon Fielding including Sarah Bazin, Michael Dooley whose experience and skills have become ever more important as the College extends its reach. Thanks to our Treasurer, Michael Dooley – and I should add that the unaudited accounts for 2023/24 are now available on the Charities Commission website (item 3b on the agenda).
We are also indebted to our young leaders and student ambassadors including Eleanor Crossley, Bogdan Chiva Giurca and Hamaad Khan. Our Student Council and Faculty of Future Health Leaders are the very future of the College.
And then I must also of course thank those who have contributed generously to the College. Particularly our sponsors, Nelsons, Vitabiotics, Make My Day Better, Jonathon and private philanthropists Amy Lam and George Farha. Also, for so many of those generous contributions from members varying from a tenner to several hundreds of pounds – don’t forget the button on our website for those who wish to contribute.
Then finally to our patron, now His Majesty the King, who has been a continuous support and visionary for our work, we have recently received formal confirmation that he is to continue as our Patron, this is incredibly generous of him, and we are indebted to him. This all supports a secure future for the College.
And to be frank, I could go on forever because there are so many people who contribute their time, passion and enthusiasm to the work of the College. We don’t have a large edifice, we don’t wear glamorous gowns and we don’t hold posh dinners. What we do, what you do, is however simply incredible. We are moving medicine fast forward to a place where it includes and connects to all individuals and communities and offers the promise of better health for all and health system that is effective and sustainable. The College is no more than the sum of its people.
Those of you coming to this Annual Meeting represent that core of forward thinking and goodwill which is now on the cusp of becoming mainstream. Thank you – all of those of you who go the extra mile – and please continue to help and support us in any way that you can. It is an utter privilege to Chair a College of so many talents and so much goodwill and I believe that, with your help, we will continue forward from strength to strength.
Dr Michael Dixon, College of Medicine Chair