This is who we are

The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow is a worldwide community of inspiring health professionals working together to advance the profession and improve patient care. At a time when the health service faces great challenges, we are determined to make a positive difference, and are passionate about speaking up for the profession. We play an active leadership role in influencing and shaping healthcare policy.

Our community is made up of the expertise and experience of our 15,000+ outstanding, hardworking members, supported by over 100 College staff and volunteer lay advisors. College staff work with clinicians, who give their time freely to the work of the College to provide an innovative and inspiring programme of activity across the College.

We are a global and inclusive organisation with members working across medicine, surgery, dental surgery, travel medicine and podiatric medicine. Many of our members are actively involved as educators, examiners and ambassadors for the College.

Role and Responsibilities

The College would like to recruit new Lay Advisors for six committees –

Fellowship Committee

Faculty of Podiatric Medicine Executive Board

Faculty of Travel Medicine Executive Board

Inclusion Advisory Group

Surgical Education Board

Surgical Exams Board

In particular we would like to recruit new members to increase the diversity of these committees and examiners in terms of demographics and knowledge of areas such as:

· Gender equality

· Ethnicity

· Age

· Inclusion and diversity

The role of a Lay Advisor is to provide non-medical input and perspective into the discussions and decision making of College committees and boards which support the charitable purposes of College.

Lay Advisors contribute to the openness, diversity and transparency of College affairs. Lay Advisors are not patients or public representatives.

The main responsibilities of the volunteer Lay Advisors shall be to: -

• Provide lay representation on one or more of the collegiate committees and boards

• Provide, as requested by the College’s committees and representatives, individual and collective lay input on matters relating to the work of the College and primarily in line with College’s key aims and objectives as detailed in the strategic plan.

• Represent, when required, the College on intercollegiate committees when specific lay representation is required.

• Comment on and/or respond to appropriate health related consultations and/or papers, policy documents from a lay perspective as directed by the Honorary Secretary and in line with the consultation process. The details of which are contained within the Terms of Reference for the Lay Advisory Group.

• Provide a pool of lay members who may, if required, serve on other professional medical bodies associated with the College e.g. Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (AoMRC) Patient Liaison Group.

• Provide a potential source of lay examiners for College and intercollegiate examinations.

• Identify members to contribute to any Lay Advisory Panel(s) i.e. reference group which may be established, from time to time, to deal with specific matters of importance/areas of expertise as and when required.

• Contribute to discussion and debate, within College, both directly and indirectly on matters which are of interest to the College and the wider general public.

• Respond to relevant requests from the Executive Board or College Council asking for comment.

Lay Advisor Person Specification

• No formal educational qualifications are necessary

• Genuine interest in training, health and social issues

• Good communication skills. Able to work effectively with people in groups and in formal meetings

• Ability to challenge, constructively, the views and assumptions of others

• Able to maintain confidentiality appropriate to the circumstances

• Willingness and/or experience to participate in and provide input to a wide range of public policy and health related consultations

• Able to attend College committee/board meetings– typically 3-4 times per year

• Able to attend Lay Advisory Group meetings – typically 3 per annum. Meetings are held in the College in Glasgow and normally run from 5:30pm until 7:30pm

Eligibility Criteria

• Lay Advisors must not be qualified in either medicine, dentistry, nursing, podiatry or travel medicine

• The current or immediate past employment of a Lay Advisor must not give rise to any potential conflicts of interest.

Remuneration

• The post of Lay Advisor is voluntary, however, expenses incurred in carrying out the role of Lay Advisor will be reimbursed in line with the College Travel and Expenses policy.

More information about our College can be found on oursocial media channels.

To apply for a committee vacancy, please send an updated CV, covering letter and Equal Opportunities Monitoring form (available from our website) to linda.irvine@rcpsg.ac.uk.

The closing date for these positions is Monday 31st October 2022 at 1700 hours.

A Charity Registered in Scotland: Charity Registration Number SC000847