Hewitt under Doctors orders
From Mmc
HEWITT UNDER DOCTOR'S ORDERS
13-03-2007
Nine leading consultants from the West Midlands have written to Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt calling for the immediate suspension of a controversial new recruitment scheme for specialists. They are also warning that junior doctors have been seriously misled about the number of jobs available.
The Modernising Medical Careers scheme (MMC) has caused huge controversy leading to an interview boycott in Birmingham last week (see our article here).
Well-qualified junior doctors have failed to even secure interviews with many threatening to quit medicine or go abroad to practise (see our article here).
That led the Department of Health to announce a review of the scheme, but medics are now warning that unsuccessful candidates could sue the Department of Health.
They say: “In essence, since the DoH have called for an urgent review but failed to suspend interviews, this will immediately mean that any unsuccessful candidate will be able to make a legal challenge under existing employment law”
The letter is signed by Dr David Nicholl and Dr Bob Spychal of City Hospital, Birmingham, Tim Graham and Dr David Spooner from the QE, Dr Jennifer Short from Heartlands along with four other specialists from the region.
As well as being circulated to Pat Hewitt, it’s gone to other senior professionals involved in running the MMC.
It also contains the damaging allegation that the Department of Health has deliberately deceived the profession about the number of posts available under the scheme.
The official version is that 30,000 applicants have been applying for 22,000 jobs – but it’s claimed that there are, in fact, 33,000 applicants for fewer than 19,000 positions – adding 6,000 to the total of jobless junior doctors.
Although the DoH has been quoted in the Daily Telegraph refuting the revised figures, the nine local medics insist that they are true and they “find it impossible to have faith in a system which is based on deceit when we cannot be given accurate data.”
To read the full letter click here
