Letter - Scotland CMO to MPs

From Mmc

--Admin 10:10, 15 March 2007 (EST)--Admin 10:10, 15 March 2007 (EST)

Dear Member

MODERNISING MEDICAL CAREERS

Doubtless you will have seen the coverage this week suggesting that a Review of Modernising Medical Careers (MMC) has been instituted by Patricia Hewitt, the Secretary of State for Health in the UK Government. Undoubtedly, you will be receiving correspondence from constituents on the issue of the appointments of junior doctors to training schemes. I thought it might be useful to give you an update as to where we stand in Scotland. I believe we are much better placed to deliver the aims and aspirations of MMC and I think it important that you are in a position to reassure any of your constituents with concerns.

MMC is in its first phase of appointments. Applications have been sought and shortlisted, and dates for interviews have been sent to several thousand individuals who have applied for jobs within the NHS across the UK. It is intended that a second round of applications will proceed at the end of April for those not successful in obtaining jobs in the first round. Patricia Hewitt’s intervention came as a result of concerns raised in England about the initial shortlisting process. A number of senior clinicians, as represented by the Academy of Royal Colleges, were concerned that lessons from the first round of appointments should be learned before embarking on the second round.

We fully support the Academy in raising its concerns. Indeed, we had identified most of these issues in the course of planning last year and have already taken steps to secure a more flexible arrangement in Scotland in a number of areas.

Most of the concerns being raised by junior doctors with NHS Education for Scotland (NES), who are implementing MMC, relate to terms and conditions: e.g. whether or not travel expenses will be paid; what rates of pay they might expect to receive in their new posts, etc. These concerns are no different from those that are dealt with routinely during any appointments process in any organisation. Specific issues around the computer matching scheme in Scotland relates to the double booking of interviews. So far we have been able to identify 50 applicants out of 5,700 who have been called for interview to two jobs at the same time. NES are working through these cases on an individual basis to ensure as far as possible that junior doctors suffer no detriment as a result. We have also had isolated cases where junior doctors have missed deadlines for submitting items of documentation because they were on duty at the time. Again, NES are dealing with these issues on an individual basis.

There have been a number of clinicians writing to the newspapers saying they were having difficulty with shortlisting. Please be assured that I have been in contact with a number of senior clinicians involved in the shortlisting process. They have been at pains to point out that they consider the shortlisting criteria to be fair, transparent and an improvement on the less structured process which had been in operation prior to the introduction of MMC. NES has in place a system to ensure that all candidates who have been unsuccessful in the first round receive advice and coaching as to how they might improve their chances in the second round. It is clear to me that the NHS in Scotland has pulled together very effectively to deliver a fair and robust system for junior doctors and, for my part, I am absolutely committed to ensuring that doctors training in Scotland get every chance to pursue a clinical career in Scotland.

Clearly, no appointments system has ever been able to guarantee that everyone would have the job of their choice in the place of their choice. Under the old system of appointments, around five to six thousand interview panels would convene across the UK each year in several hundred different organisations to appoint junior doctors against varying criteria. We have replaced this approach, which had a number of administrative deficiencies, with an auditable process which brings transparency to the appointment of junior doctors. There is a consensus across Scottish medicine at present that MMC is on track and, as is frequently the case, it is those who take a contrary view whose opinions are aired in the press. Please be assured that we will continue to adapt MMC in the light of experience to ensure that the NHS in Scotland continues to be a fair and flexible employer that attracts the best possible candidates.

I hope this information is helpful.

Yours sincerely

DR HARRY BURNS