The Royal College of Psychiatrists is the main professional organisation of

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, study, and treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists are physicians and evaluate patients to determine whether their sy ...

s in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, and is responsible for representing psychiatrists, for psychiatric research and for providing public information about mental health problems. The college provides advice to those responsible for training and certifying psychiatrists in the UK. In addition to publishing many books and producing several journals, the college produces, for the public, information about mental health problems. Its offices are located at 21

Prescot Street Prescot Street is a street in Whitechapel in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London. It runs between Goodman's Yard and Mansell Street in the west and Leman Street in the east. The area, including Ayliff Street, Leman Street and Mans ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, near

Aldgate Aldgate () was a gate in the former defensive wall around the City of London. It gives its name to Aldgate High Street, the first stretch of the A11 road, which included the site of the former gate. The area of Aldgate, the most common use of ...

. The college's previous address was

Belgrave Square Belgrave Square is a large 19th-century garden square in London. It is the centrepiece of Belgravia, and its architecture resembles the original scheme of property contractor Thomas Cubitt who engaged George Basevi for all of the terraces for t ...

History

The college has existed in various forms since 1841, having started as the Association of Medical Officers of Asylums and Hospitals for the Insane. Bewley (2008), p. 10. In 1865 it became the Medico-Psychological Association. Bewley (2008), p. 2. In 1926, the association received its

royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, bu ...

, becoming the Royal Medico-Psychological Association. In 1971, a supplemental charter gave the association the name of the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

Membership

Several grades of membership are available: * Members use the

post-nominal letters Post-nominal letters, also called post-nominal initials, post-nominal titles, designatory letters or simply post-nominals, are letters placed after a person's name to indicate that the individual holds a position, academic degree, accreditation, ...

MRCPsych Member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists (MRCPsych) is a postnominal qualification awarded to physicians who have completed the prescribed training requirements and membership examinations mandated by the Royal College of Psychiatrists. MRCPsy ...

. * Affiliateship offers psychiatrists in the UK, who are not in training grades or substantive consultant posts, the opportunity of involvement with the college. * Specialist associateship of the college is open to registered medical practitioners working in the United Kingdom and who meet certain criteria. *

Fellowship A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

uses the post-nominal letters FRCPsych. Fellowship is awarded to a member who has made a significant and distinctive contribution to psychiatry. It is not normally awarded until the nominee has held the membership for a minimum of ten years. The process by which members are awarded Fellowship of the College is that they should be nominated, proposed and seconded by two members of the college. *International associateship may be awarded to psychiatrists with five years' experience in psychiatry who do not hold the MRCPsych, but who hold a specialist qualification in psychiatry and who reside outside the UK.

Coat of arms

The

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

incorporates the traditional serpent-entwined

Rod of Asclepius In Greek mythology, the Rod of Asclepius (⚕; grc, Ράβδος του Ασκληπιού, , sometimes also spelled Asklepios), also known as the Staff of Aesculapius and as the asklepian, is a serpent-entwined rod wielded by the Greek god A ...

symbolic of medicine, and butterflies associated with

Psyche Psyche (''Psyché'' in French) is the Greek term for "soul" (ψυχή). Psyche may also refer to: Psychology * Psyche (psychology), the totality of the human mind, conscious and unconscious * ''Psyche'', an 1846 book about the unconscious by Car ...

. Previous to the grant of these arms, the Medico-Psychological Association had used a device showing the seated Psyche with butterfly's wings. The arms were originally granted to the Royal Medico-Psychological Association in 1926, and were confirmed to the college on its formation in 1971 by the

College of Arms The College of Arms, or Heralds' College, is a royal corporation consisting of professional Officer of Arms, officers of arms, with jurisdiction over England, Wales, Northern Ireland and some Commonwealth realms. The heralds are appointed by the ...

. They were also registered in Scotland by the

Court of the Lord Lyon The Court of the Lord Lyon (the Lyon Court) is a standing court of law, based in New Register House in Edinburgh, which regulates heraldry in Scotland. The Lyon Court maintains the register of grants of arms, known as the Public Register of All A ...

College Centre for Quality Improvement

The work of the College Centre for Quality Improvement (CCQI) has developed a role for clinicians and their professional bodies in raising standards. Its national initiatives engage directly with clinicians, managers and service users and support them to take responsibility for improving local mental health services. More than 90% of mental health services in the UK participate in the work of the CCQI.

Policy and campaigns

One of the college’s principal aims is to influence and develop policy on areas that contribute to supporting better outcomes for people with mental illness. This is accomplished through the publication of policy briefings, data analysis (such a
Mental Health Watch
, as well a
College Reports
an
Position Statements
This work encourages changes to government and stakeholder policy and clinical practice on a particular issue associated with psychiatry, as well as, providing professional advice to support RCPsych members in their work. The college also runs campaigns, including Choose Psychiatry, which has helped increase the fill rate of posts from 78% in 2018 to 100% in 2020, as well as calling for parity in the funding of mental health services.

List of presidents of the Royal College of Psychiatrists

The president is elected for a three-year term and serves as head of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. The current president is Dr Adrian James. * Professor Martin Roth (1971 to 1975) * Professor

Linford Rees William Linford Llewellyn Rees (24 October 1914 – 29 July 2004) was a Welsh psychiatrist, who was professor of psychiatry at St Bartholomew's Hospital, London, and president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists from 1975 to 1978. Rees was born ...

(1975 to 1978) * Professor Desmond Pond (1978 to 1981) * Professor

Kenneth Rawnsley Professor Kenneth Rawnsley, CBE, (1926-1992) of University Hospital of Wales was an English psychiatrist who served as the president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists from 1981 to 1984. Rawnsley was brought up and educated in Burnley, Lancas ...

(1981 to 1984) * Dr

Thomas Bewley Thomas Henry Bewley (8 July 1926 – 26 June 2022) was a British and Irish psychiatrist who specialised in the treatment of addiction disorders. He was president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists from 1984 to 1987. Career Bewley was born i ...

(1984 to 1987) * Dr

James Leatham Tennant Birley James Leatham Tennant "Jim" Birley (1928-2013) of the Maudsley Hospital, London, was a psychiatrist and president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists from 1987 to 1990. After education at Winchester College, Birley studied medicine at Universi ...

(1987 to 1990) * Professor Andrew Sims (1990 to 1993) * Dr

Fiona Caldicott Dame Fiona Caldicott, ( Soesan; 12 January 1941 – 15 February 2021) was a British psychiatrist and psychotherapist who also served as Principal (college), Principal of Somerville College, Oxford She was the National Data Guardian for Health a ...

(1993 to 1996); first female president * Professor

Robert Evan Kendell Robert Evan Kendell, (28 March 1935 − 19 December 2002) was a British psychiatrist. He was Chief Medical Officer of Scotland 1991−96 and President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists 1996−99. Background He was born on 28 March 1935 ...

(1996 to 1999) * Professor John Cox (1999 to 2002) * Dr

Mike Shooter Mike Shooter of Nevill Hall Hospital, Abergavenny, was president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists The Royal College of Psychiatrists is the main professional organisation of psychiatrists in the United Kingdom, and is responsible for re ...

(2002 to 2005) * Professor

Sheila Hollins Sheila Clare Hollins, Baroness Hollins, (born 22 June 1946) is a professor of the psychiatry of learning disability at St George's, University of London, and was created a crossbench life peer in the House of Lords on 15 November 2010 taking the ...

(2005 to 2008) * Professor

Dinesh Bhugra Dinesh Kumar Makhan Lal Bhugra is a professor of mental health and diversity at the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London. He is an honorary consultant psychiatrist at the South London and Maudsley National Health Service, NHS Founda ...

(2008 to 2011) * Professor Dame Susan Bailey (2011 to 2014) * Professor Sir Simon Wessely (2014 to 2017) * Professor Wendy Burn (2017 to 2020) * Dr Adrian James (2020 to present)

References

;Footnotes ;Bibliography *

External links

*
Information about mental health problems

Access the journals online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Royal College Of Psychiatrists Educational institutions established in 1841 Medical associations based in the United Kingdom Mental health organisations in the United Kingdom Psychiatric associations

Psychiatrists A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, study, and treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists are physicians and evaluate patients to determine whether their sy ...

1841 establishments in the United Kingdom