Records relating to Communications and External Affairs of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

Records of the RCOG relating to promotional work and external affairs, including media relations, annual reports, and fund raising activities.

This collection consists of the following:

RCOG/N1 - Promotional material, 1980-2008

RCOG/N2 - Press cuttings relating to the College and to the specialty, 1929-1987

RCOG/N3 - Annual Reports and Reviews, 1932-2010

RCOG/N4 - College statements and notices, 1987-2008

RCOG/N5 - RCOG Updates and Bulletins, 2006-2007

RCOG/N6 - Press Releases, 2006-2007

RCOG/N7 - Records relating to fundraising, 2002

RCOG/N8 - Records relating to the College website, 1997-1999

RCOG/N9 - Promotional material relating to Wellbeing of Women, 1997-2003

The mission of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists is to set standards to improve women's health and the clinical practice of obstetrics and gynaecology both in the UK and across the world. One of the principal means of achieving this aim is through the College's provision of education, training, assessment and professional development.

This area was traditionally the responsibility of the Director of Corporate Affairs. The College employed freelancers for occasional press work until 2000 when they decided to appoint a permanent Press Officer. In 2006 the College set up a Corporate Communications Department, reporting to the Directorate of Corporate Affairs. In 2008 the department's name changed to Communications and External Affairs.

Communications and External Affairs are concerned with College activities relating to communications, public relations and external affairs, including the promotion of the College to the media and the public, liaising with the media, issuing press releases, position statements, organising press conferences, and maintaining a register of RCOG spokespersons, lobbying MPs and civil servants, and organising ministerial briefings and events, researching the news agenda, forecasting issues that will affect RCOG, and managing the socio-political consequences, and promoting recruitment into obstetrics and gynaecology to medical students and young doctors.

The natural arrangement of files and series is retained where possible, although some composite series exist which were brought together from different transfers of material in order to facilitate access.

Permission is required from College senior management for external access to College records less than twenty years old: all other records are open by appointment, Monday to Friday, 10am to 4pm. Email: archives@rcog.org.uk

Internal transfers from the College Secretary's Office, the Director of Corporate Affairs, and from the Communications and External Affairs Department.

Details of contents of parts of the collection are available on request. Email archives@rcog.org.uk

Details of some parts of the collection are available through the AIM25 network: please note that these are not current or updated and all enquiries should be made to the College Archivist.

Record description compiled by Penny Bonning, Archivist, in May 2011.

Photocopies are available at the discretion of the College Archivist.

Copyright lies with the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and permission to reproduce material should be sought via the College Archivist.

Duplicate and routine administrative material is removed where applicable by the College Archivist.

Records have been transferred from the College Secretary's Office, the Director of Corporate Affairs, and from the Communications and External Affairs Department at various times.

Additions to this collection are expected on a regular basis according to College record-keeping policies.

Records of the Deputy College Secretary at RCOG/A13 contain material relating to the communications and external affairs of the College.

Other related material, such as the Trainees' Newsletter (RCOG/A19) and press releases (RCOG/A13/18) can be found among the administrative records of the College.