The Approval Exercise in which psychiatric hospitals and units are approved for general professional training has recently completed the first round of visits to general psychiatric units. The present phase includes a continuing review of both fully and provisionally approved hospitals and first visits to subspecialty units in mental handicap, child and adolescent psychiatry, and forensic psychiatry. The announcement of an impending visit is likely to engender apprehension rather than a feeling of empathy with the task of the Convenor and his panel, but a description of the Convenor's role should dispel any misconception that it consists of a frolicsome succession of expense-accounted jaunts.

In my article ‘Arrival in Belgrave Square’ (News and Notes, June 1975), I promised that a future issue would contain a description of the College's new headquarters and of the way the house was being adapted for our use. It has taken over four years for the arrangement of the house to be sufficiently settled for the promise to be kept, and even now, as will be seen, further changes and developments are underway.

At the Annual Meeting of the College in July 1979 the Social and Community Psychiatry Group was constituted a Specialist Section.

The College and the Joint Committee on Higher Psychiatric Training have recently considered part-time training in psychiatry. Although it is recognized that it may not always be possible, it is recommended that the training period should include at least one year of full-time training, though this is not mandatory. The conditions for part-time training are set out under two headings.