25 March 2026
In the first three months of 2026 the policy and public affairs team has been hard at work supporting President and Vice Presidents and advocating on behalf of the speciality.
We have had…
… 14 briefings sent out to over 300 politicians across the UK. Ensuring that they are informed about the issues in emergency medicine and how they can support the speciality.
… 14 meetings with policy makers including Special Advisers, the No. 10 Policy Unit and members of the UK and Scottish parliaments, Welsh Senedd and Northern Ireland Assembly.
… meetings with the Secretary of State and CEO of the NHS in England, the Health Minister in Northern Ireland and Cabinet Secretary in Scotland as well as senior civil servants and politicians in Wales.
… 44 mentions of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine in parliaments across the UK – furthering our name recognition and awareness of the issues in Emergency Medicine.
… 29 questions and 2 debates tabled in parliaments across the UK on our behalf, helping to get Emergency Medicine into the parliamentary discourse and raise awareness around issues such as declining performance figures, long waits, overcrowding and workforce sustainability.
… 3 snap surveys of clinical leads carried out to support our policy and advocacy work with results discussed in meetings with the Secretary of State and No 10 Policy Unit.
… one appearance at the Health and Social Care Committee with our President giving evidence at a session on Corridor Care.
Read more about our policy work in the What’s Been Said in the Press LinkedIn newsletter, which highlights the scale and impact of the RCEM’s policy and public affairs work, alongside data on long Emergency Department waits across the UK — ensuring Emergency Medicine remains at the forefront of political attention.
The latest roundup for the first three months of 2026 also draws attention to new RCEM analyses revealing the profound consequences of long waits. In Scotland, extreme delays could take generations to resolve without urgent political action, while in Wales, 965 deaths in 2025 were linked to 12‑hour waits—averaging 18 avoidable deaths each week. These findings underscore the urgent need for system‑wide commitment to improving flow, reducing dangerous delays, and eliminating excess deaths associated with long waits by 2030.
You can also follow RCEM’s Bluesky social media updates to see our representatives championing change for members:
A big day of advocacy on behalf of our members in Northern Ireland yesterday. Our Vice President, Michael Perry, and NI Board Member Sara-Jane McGurk met with Colin McGrath, a member of the Health Committee as well as Health Minister Mike Nesbitt to discuss challenges in urgent and emergency care.
— Royal College of Emergency Medicine (@rcem.ac.uk) 23 January 2026 at 10:17
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