Independent review of MMC confirmed by the Government
From Mmc
Independent review of MMC confirmed by the Government
As a result of the BMA’s continued calls for an independent review of the process, the Secretary of State for Health announced on Monday that an independent review of Modernising Medical Careers will indeed take place. In addition there was a third apology, this time unreserved, for the stress and anxiety caused with an acknowledgment that the profession “feels let down”. The BMA has been highlighting problems with the process for a long time, and all the problems it warned of, but were ignored, have occurred. The current and continuing problems show why the Government should have listened to the profession’s concerns and acted on them rather than pushing ahead out of expediency. The Secretary of State has acknowledged this, and we hope that the manifold lessons the last few months have thrown up will be learnt. The BMA will submit detailed evidence to the review from across the profession.
In response to the announcement, Jo Hilborne said
"The government’s handling of training reforms has been appalling. The BMA has been warning for years that Modernising Medical Careers was being rushed in too quickly, to the detriment of patient care. It’s depressing that it’s taken a disaster on this scale for them to listen.
We hope that doctors will be able to engage fully with this review, and welcome the fact that it is to be independent. However, we need more than this – we need urgent action now. There are currently 34,250 doctors applying for just 18,500 training posts in the UK. We need solutions that ensure that no doctor in training loses out on a career as a result of government mistakes or poor workforce planning."
BMA statement about MTAS The following joint message was sent from the Chairman of Council and BMA branch of practice chairs about the Medical Training Application Process (MTAS):
"Last week the chairmen of JDC and CCSC agreed that improved proposals from the MTAS review group represented a more practical way forward than its previous recommendations.
This was a hugely difficult decision, but we believe the alternatives would have been worse.
Each nation of the UK has tried to deliver the most practical solution to its particular problems. The current solution for England is an improvement on previous proposals. It means everyone can review their choices and be interviewed for their first choice post. No-one loses the interviews they have already been offered.
Of course it is far from ideal. Of course it will not reverse the damage that has already been done. But a suspension of the interview process would be unworkable, and could have disastrous consequences. It would mean cancelling the many interviews that have already taken place, and through which many people will be appointed to posts. NHS Employers has made it clear that if MTAS were to be suspended they would proceed with their own appointments system immediately. We believe this might result in trusts taking the opportunity to recruit to non-training posts.
It would also mean the thousands of hours of work by consultants and applicants being wasted, and juniors (including potential GP registrars) and medical students facing months of yet more uncertainty. It would not reflect the fact that the situation differs hugely between the four nations of the UK, between different regions of England, and between different specialties.
Taking a practical view for our members does not mean that the fight is over. The BMA is continuing to press for improvements in the second round, and for an independent review to look at how this debacle happened, as well as the principles behind MMC generally. We will push for a safety net for those doctors who do not get training posts in August.
It is time for the profession to take back control and lead the re-design of training. We need a training and appointment process that is fit for purpose so we can appoint and train the best doctors."
Mr James Johnson, Chairman of Council Dr Andrew Rowland, Vice Chairman, Junior Doctors Committee Dr Jonathan Fielden, chairman, Consultants Committee Dr Hamish Meldrum, chairman, GPs Committee Dr Anita Holdcroft, deputy chair, Medical Academic Staff Committee Miss Emily Rigby, chair, Medical Students Committee
Junior Members Forum This last weekend, the Junior Members Forum (JMF) was held in Dundee. As well as discussing many important issues, details of which are on the BMA website, MTAS and MMC was a key point of debate. The chairman of the British Medical Association called for a “cast-iron” guarantee that no junior doctor will lose out on training opportunities because of ongoing problems with the MTAS. He called for a safety net for all UK doctors in training whose applications are unsuccessful. See more of what he said here.
Also at the JMF, the BMA released the results of a survey, to which around a thousand young doctors responded, which found that the majority of young doctors believe the NHS will be unrecognisable in ten years time.
Many of the survey respondents are among the 34,250 junior doctors currently applying for 18,500 specialist posts in the UK. The survey suggests that the problems with the government’s Modernising Medical Careers reforms have created unprecedented pessimism about future employment possibilities:
Only half (50%) thought that medicine is now a job for life Around half (48%) envisaged having left the NHS in ten years time. Of these, only a third (35%) said that this was through choice Fewer than one in five (17%) thought that doctors would automatically get a job in the NHS on completion of their training in future
Despite the fact that the UK remains short of fully trained medical staff, young doctors feel their future is critically threatened. The government’s handling of training reforms, and workforce planning generally, has been shockingly bad. It’s time for them to explain what’s going to happen to the thousands of competent, dedicated, junior doctors who are currently staring into a career black hole. We will not stand by and let them be consigned to the scrap heap. It is time for the profession to retake control of training and lead planning on workforce to ensure a better future for our young doctors and our patients. Acting together the BMA will continue to press for a fair result. Thank you for your ongoing support.
Yours, Dr Jo Hilborne, Chairman, Junior Doctors Committee Dr Jonathan Fielden, Chairman Consultants Committee
