A brief history of the evolution of the Parliamentary Scholar Scheme

We were really pleased to read about the Parliamentary Scholar Scheme and how successful it has become – thank you for your thorough overview of this invaluable opportunity for speciality trainees in psychiatry.¹ The scheme can trace its origins back to a pilot scheme set up by Baroness Hollins in 2012, when KJ was one of three trainees at higher speciality trainee level in Psychiatry of Intellectual Disability or Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. He joined her team at the House of Lords one day a week for four months as a special interest session in Parliamentary affairs.

Similar to the current scheme, the role was to assist in the research and preparation of Parliamentary business, including speeches and written questions delivered by Baroness Hollins in the House of Lords. A wide range of new skills were developed by trainees, including understanding Parliamentary processes; developing communication skills beyond the usual boundaries of medicine; and making alliances with individuals and organisations from different professional and lay backgrounds in order to accomplish shared goals for the benefit of the vulnerable groups we support.

The work Baroness Hollins and her team did to represent the voice of people with an intellectual disability and/or mental illness at a Parliamentary level was truly inspiring, and the opportunity to be part of this team, advocating for our patient groups at a national level, was extremely rewarding and a great privilege. As you mentioned in your article, the opportunity opened our eyes to the substantial influence that medically trained professionals can have in contributing to political and managerial discourse and decision-making, in the widest sense.

AB, who was the Speciality Advisory Committee Chair, Intellectual Disability Faculty, Royal College of Psychiatrists, at the time, believes that this unparalleled and unique training opportunity and experience had a long-lasting effect on the careers and overall personal development of trainees who were successful in the selection process and then went on to train, refine their skills, and learn about Parliamentary processes and how to influence policy-making, supervised by Baroness Hollins.

KJ feels it has influenced his subsequent decisions to pursue dual training in Intellectual Disability (after a first CCT in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry), act as trainee representative in the Royal College Faculty Executive and more recently join the Royal College of Psychiatrists Leadership and Management Scheme. Another colleague from this early form of the scheme went on to join the Royal College of Psychiatrists Westminster Parliamentary Committee.

We would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank Baroness Hollins for setting up this scheme and encourage all trainees with an interest in this area to consider the scheme as a unique and invaluable opportunity. We believe this pioneering scheme in all its iterations has already left an important legacy within our generation of psychiatrists and beyond.