Annual General Meeting of FSRH on 28 July 2016

Formal Notice to FSRH members of our AGM will be sent out today. The next Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the FSRH will be held at 1pm on 28 July 2016, at the RCOG.

PRESIDENT’S STATEMENT

This has been another significant year of change for those of us working in health care and in the FSRH itself. I am very pleased that despite the many challenges we face in maintaining standards of care in our services – in primary care and in specialist services – the Faculty has increased its membership and further developed its training, standards and influence in 2015 – supporting healthcare professionals to deliver for patients in spite of the turbulence around them.

We all know how central good sexual and reproductive healthcare is to the lives of women and men and how poor care or lack of access to care can impact adversely on someone’s life – and on their community. So I am very pleased that we were able to publish our ‘vision’ for sexual and reproductive health this year. Better Care, A Better Future was launched at Current Choices in November 2015 and sets out what the FSRH believes good SRH care should look like. We are now building on this vision to write ‘implementation plans’ for each of the four countries we work in, with the aim of improving care across the UK.

In addition to its ‘core’ work of providing training and qualifications, standards, guidance and events, the FSRH is increasingly using its voice to influence care and practice. With nearly 16,000 members by the end of 2015 it is in a very good position to do so and I am delighted that our members are increasingly getting involved with this aspect of our work. In order to ensure that we can reflect the views of our members – and provide them with what they need to develop their SRH practice – we are investing in new technology, staff and ways of working - to make this desire a reality. I am very pleased that, as this report clearly demonstrates, we are increasingly achieving our aim of ‘modernising’ the FSRH so that we can achieve our aim of improving standards of care across the full range of SRH activities.

I am very aware that we cannot achieve our vision alone and I would like to thank all the individual members and other organisations who have helped us over the last year. Our work relies heavily on the input of our 200+ volunteers – doctors, nurses and ‘lay’ people who sit on our committees, write our standards, develop our training programmes and oversee our speciality and Member’s exam, as well as providing our governance by acting as Officers and Council members. Thank you, once again, for enabling the FSRH to flourish over the last year despite the many other pressures on your time.

I am confident that the investments that the FSRH has made in 2015 – in time, technology, staff, the CEU, the Journal and training - will go a long way to ensuring that our work is as relevant as possible to our members and to anyone with an interest in good sexual and reproductive health.

Do take the time to read more about our work – and our finances – in the annual report and accounts. 

Chris Wilkinson, President
FSRH