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Months of infighting at one of Australia’s largest medical colleges appears to have quietened to a whisper on Friday, as the Royal Australasian College of Physicians held a subdued annual general meeting.
College president Professor Jennifer Martin and president-elect Dr Sharmila Chandran have spent months locked in a leadership feud, which came to a head in April when police were called to investigate “intimidation” at a meeting in which the president-elect allegedly tried to oust the college president without the subject or other directors present. No police action was taken.
Under normal circumstances, Friday’s AGM would have been a handover of power between the president and the president-elect. Neither was present in an official capacity.
Key to the infighting has been Martin’s determination to separate the roles of president and board chair, a move opposed by Chandran and her supporters and defeated in three EGM votes.
Last week, Chandran was suspended by the charities regulator, the ACNC, for not complying with a SafeWork NSW directive to cease communications with staff, which SafeWork said exposed them to “immediate and serious risks to their psychological health and safety”.
This suspension prevents Chandran from taking over leadership until September 20. After this date, she will assume the dual roles of president and chair.
In the interim, the ACNC appointed its former commissioner, Susan Pascoe, to lead the college.
In a message to members following Friday’s AGM, Pascoe expressed a “deep gratitude” for departing president Martin’s service, and said she had “exhibited a rare form of courage and resilience during one of the most challenging times for The RACP and at great personal cost”.
The college, which is responsible for the training and accreditation of more than 33,000 doctors across 33 specialties, has held five EGMs in six months, reportedly costing members more than $1 million.
A last-minute attempt from the college to delay Friday’s AGM faced the Supreme Court on Wednesday, ending with an agreement from both Martin and Chandran not to chair the meeting.
Former RACP President Professor John Wilson, who was present at the AGM, said Pascoe used the meeting to urge members to “move on” from the tensions that have clouded the college.
However, Wilson said “if there has been wrongdoing … it must be pointed out and it has to be acted on”.
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