In October 1982 Council discussed a paper by me with the above title in which I posed a number of questions. The document was then widely debated within the College, and on the basis of responses received I presented a report to Council in October 1983. Council endorsed a number of recommendations and these are now embodied in this paper.

This document, originally published in the Bulletin, September 1977, is now reprinted on the instructions of Council. The reasons for this decision are incorporated in the fourth section of the paper by me, ‘The Future of the Consultant in Psychiatry’, which appears in this issue.

The role played by the House of Commons in the legislative process has been steadily changing since the Reform Acts of the nineteenth century. Previously, most of the Commons' legislative work consisted in passing private measures initiated and introduced by individual Members of Parliament concerned with, and knowledgeable about, local issues which required change. The growth of an increasingly vocal and educated mass electorate, the pressures of mass-membership political parties, and the increasing specialization of an industrial society, all increased the need for wider legislation, particularly for public social measures, and its initiation passed from the hands of individual members to the Government Parliament as a law-making body moved towards a more formal constitutional and legal role. Its twentieth century task is more often the legitimation of legislative changes originating elsewhere.

The introduction of the College's Membership Examination in 1971 created a dilemma for the university departments which had previously provided postgraduate teaching for a Diploma in Psychological Medicine. For it was clear that the MRCPsych would soon become a mandatory qualification for anyone wishing to pursue a psychiatric career, at least in this country, and that consequently there would no longer be a useful role for these diplomas. The universities concerned therefore had to choose between letting their diplomas die, or converting them into something other than a basic clinical qualification. The University of Edinburgh, like the Institute of Psychiatry and one or two other departments, decided to replace its DPM with a master's degree (M.Phil) in psychiatry which would be primarily an academic and research qualification, complementing rather than rivalling the College Membership.

Part IV of the 1983 Mental Health Act (Sections 56–64) introduces new safeguards and procedures relating to Consent to Treatment for detained patients and in limited situations to informal patients. Many psychiatrists have expressed misgivings about these provisions and many are unfamiliar with the new requirements. One medical member of the Mental Health Act Commission visited twenty different hospitals for the purposes of issuing a Certificate of Second Opinion during a four-month period between October 1983 and February 1984. This paper discusses some of the practices and misunderstandings encountered.

The increased fees for postgraduate trainees from overseas and their difficulty passing the MRCPsych examination have made some British teachers question whether Departments of Psychiatry should continue to provide training for such doctors. The change in the relationship between old and new Commonwealth countries, and the increased availability of postgraduate training in Nigeria, Kenya or Zimbabwe are other factors to be considered.

Thomas Bewley will take up office as the new President of the College at the Annual Meeting in July. He has been closely connected with the College for many years, and was Sub-Dean from 1972–77 and Dean from 1977–82. He has also been Secretary and Chairman of the Manpower and Education Committees. His particular interests lie in the field of drug dependence and he has published on this subject, as well as on medical manpower and the side-effects of drugs. He was a co-founder of the Institute for the Study of Drug Dependence, and a member of both the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs and its precursor the Standing Advisory Committee on Drug Dependence. He was a consultant adviser to the DHSS for nine years, and has been a Consultant Psychiatrist since 1961 at Tooting Bec and St Thomas Hospitals.

It was a memorable occasion, so memorable in every way that one could be forgiven for believing that Natalie herself had had a hand in its organization.

An International Conference on Anorexia Nervosa and Related Disorders will be held from 3 to 7 September 1984 at University College, Swansea. It will focus upon clinical, therapeutic and scientific aspects of anorexia nervosa and bulimia. Information: Dr Paul D. G. Harris, Conference Coordinator, Anorexia Nervosa Conference, PO Box 406, Sketty, Swansea SA2 9BQ, Wales.