Hewitt abandons doctor applications system
From Mmc
Hewitt abandons doctor applications system
Fred Attewill and agencies Tuesday May 15, 2007
The chaotic online application system for junior doctors is to be abandoned after thousands of well-qualified candidates were not offered interviews. MTAS (Medical Training Application Service) - the system which health secretary Patricia Hewitt admits "has simply not worked" - will be scrapped after the initial round of recruitment ends on June 22. A replacement system will be handled by local medical deaneries, who will recruit on the basis of CVs. The website through which doctors were meant to book interviews was taken offline last month following security lapses that let unauthorised users to view confidential information on applicants. Dr Andrew Rowland of the British Medical Association said the decision was overdue. "The Department of Health has at last seen sense and effectively abandoned the unfair, discredited and shambolic MTAS system," he said. "Junior doctors have suffered blow after blow because of the government's terrible handling of these reforms. "They have had to go through months of anxiety about their NHS careers and, on top of that, have potentially had their personal details exposed on the MTAS website." Dr Rowland added that the BMA was also "extremely concerned" about the revelation that crimes may have resulted from the leaks. Ms Hewitt said the police had been alerted because an investigation "has made it clear that criminal offences may have been committed" in two security breaches on the MTAS website on April 25 and 26. The health secretary added in a written statement to parliament today that the system would not be used for the second round of recruitment, which is due to begin in August. "Given the continuing concerns of junior doctors about MTAS, the system will not be used for matching candidates to training posts, but will continue to be used for national monitoring," she said. "As we have stressed before, not all training posts will be filled in the current round and there will therefore be further substantial opportunities for those who are not successful initially. The review group has agreed that this further recruitment will be locally planned and managed by the deaneries." Junior doctors, consultants and MPs condemned the system as unfair and incompetent after it became clear that thousands of strong candidates were obtaining none of the four possible interviews, while weaker candidates were successful. It also emerged that the shortlisting process was flawed, with little weight being given to academic ability and no consensus about how to assess the applications. Liberal Democrat health spokesman Norman Lamb said the announcement was "a massive and embarrassing admission of failure". He added: "Having stubbornly persisted with the current system despite calls for its abandonment, Patricia Hewitt is now dropping it one day before court proceedings begin into its fairness. "This suggests no confidence in a system she has been forced to defend in the House of Commons four times. This shambles is sadly symptomatic of the government's incompetent stewardship of the NHS. "The massive disruption caused could have been avoided if the government had listened to health professionals' warnings at the start." The campaign group Remedy UK, which represents 10,000 young doctors, had launched a legal challenge and aims to get the entire MTAS recruitment system scrapped. But the BMA agrees with the government that round one of the process should be completed to avoid further disruption.
