Structure

The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners is governed by a Council, representative of GPs from throughout New Zealand. In addition, an Executive, consisting of the president, deputy president, Board of Education chair, Board of Assessment chair, Board of Quality chair, a representative from Te Akoranga a Maui (the Maori Faculty), three members at large and the Chief Executive Officer make many of the day-to-day decisions required between formal meetings of Council.

Faculties centred around Auckland, Waikato, Wellington, Canterbury and Otago-Southland allow members to be involved in discussion and decision-making at a local level. Each member is automatically a member of a faculty and receives information and notices of faculty activities directly. Additionally, in Rotorua in September 2002, the College became the first professional body in New Zealand to incorporate a Maori faculty, Te Akoranga a Maui.

A new Rural Faculty, which took over from the previous Rural Committee, came into being in March 2008.

Governance and Management

The College is governed by a Council that consists of:

• a President, elected by members for a term of two years
• a deputy President, elected by members for a term of two years
• two representatives from each faculty, including the Rural Faculty and Te Akoranga a Maui, the Maori Faculty
• chairpersons of the Council standing committees
• the Chief Executive Officer
• a consumer representative (observer status)
• a representative of the NZMA (observer status)
• a representative of the IPA Council (observer status)
• a representative of NZNO, practice nurses section (observer status).

The College is managed by a professional secretariat headed by the Chief Executive, and is based in Wellington. A staff of 36 with external teachers anmd assessors works with the CEO in the following management units: CEO's office, Education, Assessment and Quality, GP Support & Advocacy and Membership Services.

Standing Committees

A new structure of standing committees came into effect on 1 February 2007. There are three major Standing Committees of Council: the Boards of Education, Assessment and Quality. The Boards provide the Council with information and advice on issues in general practice, and monitoring the provision of vocational education for GPs - including both the General Practice Education Programme, Stage 1 (GPEP1) and in GPEP2 for those wishing to gain vocational registration through the Medical Council. The Board of Assessment also monitors the delivery of examinations for practitioners who have completed GPEP1, and look to achieve Fellowship of the College.