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'''Junior Doctors call for immediate inquiry into training chaos '''

''Press release date: Saturday, 10 Mar 2007 (BMA London)  ''

Junior doctors’ leaders have today (Saturday 10 March) voted overwhelmingly for the scrapping of the Government’s new system for medical training appointments – known as MTAS and a return to the old appointments system for junior doctors which was in place until earlier this year.
 
At its meeting in London the British Medical Association’s Junior Doctors Committee (JDC) also called for an immediate independent review of both MTAS and of Modernising Medical Careers (MMC) of which MTAS is a crucial part .
 
It also agreed to support national protest marches through central London and Glasgow on Saturday, 17 March and urged all doctors not working next Saturday to join the marches.
 
Dr Jo Hilborne, chair of the JDC said: 
 
“Junior doctors are very angry at the current chaos. We have strong evidence that thousands of highly skilled doctors risk being thrown on the scrapheap by this shambles of a system. We have been warning Government for over a year that this system wasn’t going to work and that’s why we think it necessary to call a halt until the process is got right."
 
“We will continue to play our part on the recent Review Group which is trying to put things right but we want an independent inquiry to be started immediately to learn the lessons of how this mess was allowed to happen and produce a longer-term solution.“
 
The committee also called for the immediate resignation of Professor Alan Crockard, National Director of Modernising Medical Careers.
 
Dr Hilborne continued: 
 
“I urge all doctors and medical students –not just juniors – to take part in the marches through central London and Glasgow on Saturday March 17 to show the Government how strongly the profession feels about the jobs crisis we are facing and how damaging this will be for patient care . “ 
 
Ends 
 
Note to Editors
 
Modernising Medical Careers (MMC) aims to improve patient care by delivering a modernised and focused career structure for doctors through a major reform of postgraduate medical education. 
 
The Medical Training Application Service (MTAS) is a Department of Health organisation that oversees applications for medical post-graduate training programmes in the United Kingdom. From this year, junior doctors apply to MTAS for training posts in their chosen speciality through a new online computer system that allocates interviews to applicants. 
 
Further information on MMC is at www.mmc.nhs.uk and on MTAS at www.mtas.nhs.uk