Letter to Applicants - issued 22 May 2007

From Mmc

Dear Applicant,

Thank you for your continuing patience and understanding as we progress through the Round One application system. We know that you are facing serious uncertainty and aim to do everything we can to address this.

You will have seen our letter to you last week, which explained the current situation and the broad outline of how Round One was progressing. If that failed to reach you, you can access it here [MMC website]. That outline left many questions unanswered and we write today to provide more detailed information and advice. However, it is important to bear in mind that all of our advice is dependent upon the outcome of the Claim for Judicial Review brought by Remedy UK. We are writing to you in advance of the Judicial Review’s decision so that you are as clear as possible about the process as it currently stands and will ensure that you are kept up to date on the findings of the Judicial Review and any implications those findings may have for the current recruitment round.

The initial offer process

you are sure that a particular offer is the best one for you, you should accept it straight away and decline any others. Doing so will give you the maximum possible time to finalise your personal arrangements in advance of taking up your placement.

Equally, you may not be interested in some offers. In that case you should decline them straight away, so that the training opportunity can be passed on to one of your colleagues.

Of course many candidates may need to wait and see which other offers they receive before making a decision. The process allows you to wait until all initial allocations have been offered before you have to make a final decision. The ultimate deadline to finally accept or decline any initial offers is 23.59 on 10th June. Any offers that have not been accepted by this deadline will expire and as such will be deemed to have been declined.

The subsequent offer process Following the 10th June deadline, those places which have been declined will be re-offered to other candidates who are both eligible and competent in their chosen specialty. This will enable the UoAs to fill as many training posts as possible:

• Additional offers will be made from Monday 11th June and will continue until Friday 22nd June.
• You will have 48 hours (excluding Saturdays and Sundays) to accept or decline each additional offer you may receive between 11th June and 22nd June. After 48 hours, the offer will expire and will be deemed to have been declined.
• Any additional offers that are declined will be offered to alternative applicants straight away. They too will have 48 hours to respond.
• Final additional offers will be made on Wednesday 20 June so that the final deadline for acceptance or decline of all offers is 23.59 on Friday 22nd June. Round One is then closed.

If you have not received any offer by Wednesday 20th June and want to check on your situation, please contact the relevant deanery. Deanery contact details can be found on the MMC website at www.mmc.nhs.uk/pages/deaneries.

FTSA offers

In order to make sure as many trainees as possible get jobs, Fixed Term Specialist Training Appointments (FTSTAs) will be offered at the same time as Specialty Training programme places.

If you are offered and accept an FTSTA during the first wave of offers which ends on 7th June but are later offered a place on a specialty training programme that has been declined by someone else, you can accept the Specialist Training offer and subsequently decline the FTSTA offer.

This ability to decline a previously accepted offer applies to FTSTA offers only.

Some general points

In order for the process to be as fair and transparent as possible, it is necessarily quite complex. We apologise for any confusion, but hope that the explanation given here and in the Applicant’s Guide is clear. If you do not understand any point, please contact us via email at: MMCsupport@mmc.nhs.uk. You may only accept one offer. By confirming your acceptance of an offer, you are also confirming that you will decline any other offers you have received or may receive, with the exception of the FTSTA process outlined above.

If you accept your allocation in Round One, you will not be able to apply in the next round.

If you decline all offers made to you in Round One, you will be able to apply for the next round.

As stated earlier, you should please bear in mind that this process is subject to the findings of the Judicial Review which was heard last week, and whose outcome is awaited.

Principles to underpin the next round

The Review Group chaired by Professor Neil Douglas has agreed the following principles upon which the subsequent appointments process would be based. These have the full support of the Secretary of State for Health, Deaneries and NHS employers:

• Continued access to posts by applicants will be restricted to those who have enrolled on MTAS and were not successful in getting a post in Round One.

• We will try to ensure that, as far as possible, trainees are able to have continuity of training. To support this we will progress discussions with PMETB to include prospective recognition for temporary posts as part of any gaps that are being filled.

• We will ensure that advertising will be transparent and clearly structured. All posts available by level, specialty and deanery will be communicated to applicants through deanery websites. Applicants will have an opportunity to see all the jobs for at least 72 hours.

• Recruiters will see all data on a structured application form except equal opportunity monitoring and personal data

• The form will be based on previously used application forms which have been tried and tested.

• A well-tested and reliable electronic system (NHS Jobs) will be used, which can be locally managed through a coordinated approach under each deanery.

• MMC standards on interview panels will be followed.

• The person specifications will remain the same.

• The longlisting and shortlisting steps will be combined and be overseen and undertaken by medical staff.

• Interviews and scoring systems will be determined locally against national principles such as the use of structured CV based portfolios.

• Applicants will be able to make unlimited new and multiple applications.
• Offers of jobs will be made flexibly and locally.

• Once an applicant has accepted an offer all other interviews and offers they may have will be withdrawn.

The next round will commence in June and deaneries will have until November to complete the process. Recruitment will begin at times to suit local circumstances by specialty and geography.

We know how important it is for you to have details of the competition ratios for different specialties and will be working to ensure that you have details of the competition ratios for each specialty, possibly via the MMC or deanery websites.

In addition, we are developing a package of support for those applicants who are unsuccessful in their subsequent applications this year. We will make a detailed announcement about this shortly.

We would like to thank you again for your continuing patience, and to pass on our thanks to the many consultant colleagues and other staff who are working to provide the most effective recruitment process possible in current circumstances.

Yours faithfully,

The Modernising Medical Careers Team