You don’t have to step far inside the RACP’s historic headquarters in Sydney to understand how the college sees itself.
From the richly padded carpet, to the wood panelled walls, to the bespoke cabinetry filled with rare books (the oldest published in 1489), the building radiates its elite status. It all says ‘we are venerable, respectable and dignified’ and might add that answering questions is for others occupying less rarified real estate.
But behind the sandstone facade is an organisation in turmoil. The college is embarking on an unprecedented spend on curriculum and technology upgrades while attempting to overhaul its decision-making structure. This is all without its CEO and president, who have both resigned this month, dropping bombs as they did so.
And in the background lies a mammoth accreditation review by the Australian Medical Council (AMC) that insiders say is far from a guaranteed success.
Given the college’s recent history, members will have some reason to be concerned.
Still visible in the rearview mirror are memories of the college’s 2018 divisional written exam meltdown, when computer glitches resulted in 1200 trainees having to resit their exams. A review pointed to issues with governance as key drivers of the fiasco.
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Resigned: Dr Jackie Small and Lee Whitney
A year later, the RACP received official warning from the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission that it could lose its charitable status, amid claims of — yet again — poor governance and inappropriate use of charitable funds.
Infighting amongst those at the top has been pervasive, typified by an extraordinary general meeting held in 2020 for a vote on whether to sack then- incoming president Professor John Wilson, along with his successor Dr Jacqueline Small and Professor Paul Komesaroff from the college board. Notably, each had been elected promising to reform the RACP and improve transparency for members.
In any event, the trio survived the vote, while those who called the EGM remained anonymous to protect them from “victimisation”, in the college’s words.
So perhaps there should be less surprise over the events of this month, which began with a brief notice on the college website announcing the departure of its CEO, Lee Whitney.
Resignations over ‘governance’
Few details were offered other than that Mr Whitney had resigned “after forming the view that the agenda of the RACP would be best addressed by a CEO with a specific focus on governance reform”.
How Mr Whitney had come to that conclusion only six months into the job was left unsaid. Nor were there any specifics about what he thought was wrong with the college’s governance and what was needed to fix it.
Adding to the sense of alarm over the departure of the former Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand executive was the announcement’s timing. That same day, the college unveiled a massive investment in IT and training infrastructure, with major projects underway including a renewed advanced training curriculum to meet AMC requirements, and new training and member management platforms.
Concerningly, the college could not say just how much it would be spending on these upgrades, beyond the fact that it would mean posting deficits until at least 2028, openly declaring it had not “projected an all-up cost”.
Governance was also identified as the trigger for Dr Small’s resignation a few days later, although again details were lacking.
What were her concerns? Were they structural – related to the planned reforms – or was she alluding to the failed EGM, or more infighting and bullying in the leadership? What, if any, was the connection with Mr Whitney’s resignation? Or with the multimillion dollar projects being announced at the same time?
And how would college governance be improved by the combined loss of its most senior employee and most senior elected member at such a pivotal moment in its history? Dr Small did not say.
“In my view, significant governance improvements requiring constitutional changes are required,” was all she wrote in her message to members. The paediatrician did not respond when contacted by the limbic.
Dr Small’s reticence and the timing of her resignation, just a month out from the RACP’s 2024 congress, as well as the college’s recent history of infighting, may point to an interpersonal issue rather than a purely constitutional one. That is according to those who know her, although it is pure speculation.
RACP restructure in the works
But there were some other clues that she was unhappy with the RACP’s performance in her president’s message of 4 April, which included a number of admissions of failure on behalf of the college.
“We know that our current delivery of services is not meeting your expectations and must improve,” she said as she announced the multimillion dollar upgrade of the RACP’s technological infrastructure.
“In education, we operate using a range of outdated technology systems and manual processes to deliver our current training programs.”