A medical game show
From Mmc
A medical game show
The new system for appointing junior doctors seems to have been inspired by daytime TV. Alex Williamson
March 29, 2007 2:30 PM
Anyone trying to follow the twists and turns of Britain's new junior doctor appointment system will bemused by the increasingly ridiculous solutions being proposed to help the Modernising Medical Careers (MMC) team out of the original quagmire they created.
MMC is the biggest change ever to hit the NHS, completely restructuring how junior appointments are made.
After instituting an untried and untested system which allowed candidates to be shortlisted on their ability to write 150-word answers to grossly deficient questions, a review committee, in response to pressure from junior doctors nationwide, has come up with an even more ridiculous solution.
The original decision to rectify the problem was to offer all applicants to ST3 level (the old first-year registrar level) a guaranteed interview at their first-choice region - so doing away with any need for shortlisting. Those applying to ST1 (a second-year SHO) would have their applications reviewed and if they met the longlisting criteria would receive a first-choice interview. Those stuck in the middle - ST2 - would receive counselling!
In an attempt to improve this, an even more bizarre and logistically challenging solution has been provided. All candidates will be entitled to an interview at their first-choice deanery, so doing away with the shortlisting process. Those that have been fortunate enough to have already had interviews will be entitled to change their first choice.
But (and this is where the application system starts to sound like a low-brow game show), anyone who has already had more than one interview can pick only one as their first choice; their other interview efforts will be disregarded. No feedback will be given as to how candidates have fared at these interviews, and it becomes very much a best guess scenario. I used to think that Deal or No Deal was pretty mindless but Job or No Job beats it hands down.
The figures popularly used in the press over the last few weeks were that a potential 8,000 doctors were going to be out of work. It seems these numbers may be closer to 16,000 and, with the estimated cost of training each one around £250,000, it seems strange that a system has been created to effectively throw away £4bn. Getting rid of shortlisting may see more people interviewed but it has not created any more jobs.
MMC appears to be devoid of any common sense, with ever increasingly unworkable solutions being created for a system that is inherently flawed. What is without doubt is that drawing inspiration for the solution from daytime TV is not working.
