Page 6 - IDF Journal 2023

IDF News – Spring 2023
President’s Report
Dr Phil Batty
IDF President
It is an honour to serve you as President of the IDF.
I took over from Dr Neil Haughton in April 2022
and my appreciation for
all his service has grown immeasurably since taking on the role. I was delighted to award him a silver medal at the President’s Dinner last year. I also had the honour to award Dr Brian O’Connor a silver medal at the IDF Christmas dinner for his significant contribution to private medicine.
I made clear three priorities for my term of President
at my inauguration. These themes were more social events for a mixed budget, to be a good employer, and to increase awareness of diversity.
I am proud that our current Executive Board is probably the most diverse in the IDF history.
I want more social events for mixed budgets to enable us to network, support and have fun together. We held an excellent education weekend, delayed due to the passing of Queen Elizabeth, in Stratford upon Avon. The reason for a UK venue was that, at the time of planning, we were still not sure of the pandemic situation. With hindsight, this was justified as it would have been much more difficult to rearrange for a European venue. We travel to Estoril in Portugal this year and I look forward to an outstanding event.
We are increasing our events offering and I am grateful to the IDF staff for
all their support, and to our Corporate Members who sponsor the events. We have an increasing number of Corporate Members, who appear in the journal in the advertisements.
The IDF employs staff working in membership, events, and appraisal and revalidation. I am grateful to them all for their work and want the IDF to be a good employer. There are challenges regarding recruiting staff in the current economic climate so retaining staff is important. With the support of the Executive
Board, we have introduced private medical insurance for those staff that are interested, together with improved annual leave, maternity benefits, and pension contributions. We have also introduced a volunteer day together with a bundle of discount offerings (similar to those we get from our royal colleges).
I am proud that our current Executive Board is probably the most diverse in the IDF history. It is important we are, and are seen to be, inclusive. I share some concerns with many of you regarding the ‘woke agenda’, however the word ‘woke’ is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as, ‘alert to racial or social discrimination and injustice.’ This is the ‘woke’ the IDF should embrace. I am grateful to all that serve on our ‘Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging’ or DIB’s group.
All IDF President’s, including myself, have been white men. My hope is this will change to reflect our diverse membership.
I was deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Dr Sean White and Ray Stanbridge before Christmas. Sean
was a much admired pain management specialist and an excellent clinician. I have several shared patients over the years and I know he will be very much missed by his family and patients.
Ray was an accountant who advised many of us in the private healthcare sector. He was very active, albeit he faced health challenges for a number of years. He served on our Finance Committee and Executive Board and was a member of both at the time of his passing. I miss his sharp insight. I awarded a posthumous silver medal for Ray to his son Tim at the President’s Dinner in February.
I am a relatively new member of the IDF and took on the role of President because I feel our organisation is important. We need to support each other as doctors working in the private sector. I have had discussions with the GMC about how they can support doctors that are facing an investigation. It is an encouraging
step that first contact is now going to be by telephone call for all doctors facing investigations. There is still much work
to do!
I have also met with the CQC and there are regular meetings to try to make the inspection process easier and equitable, especially for ethnic minority led practices who may have different practice demographics.
I am grateful to my fellow Executive Board members, Dr Nelda Frater, Dr Susan Alexander, Dr Glyn Towlerton, Dr Shaima Villait, Mr Ed Ungar, Dr Alex Harkins and Mrs Emily Stephens for all their time
and effort.
Networking, support, advocacy and enjoyment are the raisons d’être of the IDF!
The future of the IDF is in all our hands. Please spread the word to colleagues, particularly if they are just starting in private practice. From my own personal perspective, the reason I joined the
IDF was to network and have fun! As a Northerner I use the word ‘fun’ for what some of you may call an ‘enjoyable experience’! Either way, I know this is what I need!
6