- The General Medical Council is to review the way doctors are elected on to
its governing body after it was revealed that one who was struck off for
racial abuse and neglect of patients has won a seat. Guardian,
1 May 2000
- Doctors and nurses to be trained together to relax elitist divide. Guardian,
15 May 2000
- That's the right medicine. Letters in Guardian,
16 May 2000
- Carry on regardless. How self-regulation of the medical profession has
destroyed public confidence. Guardian,
31 May 2000
- The spectre of "dodgy" doctors like gynaecologist Rodney Ledward
should become a thing of the past as a new system of appraisals and checks
on every doctor's fitness to practise begins to bite, the president of the
General Medical Council said yesterday. Guardian
23 June 2000
- The General Medical Council was guilty of "serious and disturbing
failures" in not following correct procedures before rejecting a
misconduct complaint made against a GP by the father of a dead child, a high
court judge said yesterday. Guardian
24 June 2000
- Doctors will be warned today to brace themselves for a year of mounting
public criticism as the General Medical Council gears up to clear a backlog
of cases of alleged professional misconduct. Guardian
26 June 2000
- Families of 55 victims of the serial killer Harold Shipman went to the
high court yesterday to try to force the health secretary, Alan Milburn, to
hold a public inquiry into how Shipman was able to evade notice for so long.
Guardian
28 June 2000
- Suddenly, it appears, there is no confidence in the medical profession.
Without wishing to detect the malpractice of spin-doctors in everything we
see and hear, this is all very convenient. Increasingly, the failings of
services are attributed to individuals or "a culture of. . ."
which means individuals making each other worse in the canteen. Driver
error, incompetent teaching and the arrogance of doctors are much easier to
broach than mismanagement, politics, underfunding and the values of the
marketplace. Individuals can be dismissed or made to undergo retraining,
without damage to the whole. The number of individuals targeted can vary
according to the prominence of the problem and which gallery you are playing
to. And a system of privileges for good behaviour both sweetens the measures
and discourages us from taking a collective view of our own jobs or other
people's. We are in competition and on the look out for enemies and rivals. Jeremy
Hardy, Guardian 1 July 2000
- Q&A: nursing regulation Guardian
Society Friday April 6, 2001
- New schemes aim to help develop the skills and potential of the huge
'invisible army' of non-professional health service staff. Thelma Agnew
reports Guardian
Society Monday April 23, 2001
- A premier division of 40 top NHS hospitals in Britain was named yesterday
by an international firm of health care consultants. Guardian
Wednesday April 25, 2001
- Patient safety may be at risk because hospitals have inadequate systems
for rooting out incompetent doctors, according to the commission for health
improvement (CHI), the health service inspectorate. Guardian
Society Thursday May 3, 2001
- You are unhappy with the service or treatment provided by the national
health service (NHS). Tony Wright MP tells you what to do. Guardian
Unlimited Thursday July 19, 2001
- Health: Private sector You are unhappy with the service or treatment you
have received from an independent (non-NHS) health service. Tony Wright MP
tells you what to do. Guardian
Unlimited Thursday July 19, 2001
- You or your relative has received poor treatment within the mental health
service or have been unfairly detained. Tony Wright MP tells you what to
do. Guardian
Unlimited Thursday July 19, 2001
- Your dentist is guilty of serious professional misconduct. Tony Wright MP
tells you what to do. Guardian
Unlimited Thursday July 19, 2001
- Bad hospitals could face expulsion from NHS. Report outlines ways to
cure 'uncoordinated' health service. James
Meikle, health correspondent Guardian Thursday July 19, 2001
- Patients 'died after surgeon's blunders' . Six patients died after a
surgeon made a series of blunders while carrying out operations on a dozen
patients, a General Medical Council hearing heard yesterday. Guardian
Society Tuesday October 23, 2001
- A surgeon sacked after scores of complaints from patients and their
families was accused yesterday of being an "elusive botcher" at a
disciplinary hearing of the General Medical Council. Martin Wainwright
Guardian
Society Wednesday October 24, 2001
- GMC finds surgeon guilty of blunders James Meikle Guardian
Unlimited Friday November 2, 2001
- Surgeon struck off for botched operations Anthony Browne, health editor Observer
Sunday November 4, 2001
- GMC launches 'yellow card' warnings for doctors. Sarah Boseley,
health editor Guardian
Society Friday November 9, 2001
- The suspended chief executive of organ scandal hospital Alder Hey has been
formally sacked two days after an internal NHS disciplinary hearing found
her guilty of misconduct. Guardian
Society Wednesday November 21, 2001
- GMC president hits out at 'arrogant' doctors Sarah Boseley Guardian
Unlimited Thursday November 22, 2001
- The death of Dr Evans This GP threw himself off a cliff in early June.
Why? Because he had been accused of causing the death of a patient. Esther
Addley unravels a shameful tale of Britain's blame culture. Guardian
Unlimited Thursday November 22, 2001
- Trust me, I'm a doctor? No fear. The only allegiance most doctors
display is to their colleagues and their own careers. Observer
Sunday November 25, 2001
- Medical body clears surgeon of 45 errors. Rebecca Allison Guardian
Friday December 7, 2001
- Postgraduate Medical Education and Training: The Medical Education
Standards Board: A Paper for Consultation. Department
of Health November 2001 and our
response December 2001.
- Doctors face 'MoTs' to build public confidence. Society
Monday May 20, 2002
- An Asian surgeon has been awarded £814,877 by an employment tribunal in
Manchester after it found the British Medical Association, the doctors'
trade union, racially discriminated against him. Colin Blackstock Friday
June 21, 2002 The Guardian
- Doctors need better training. Chief medical officer criticises haphazard
system. John Carvel, social affairs editor
Thursday August 22, 2002 The Guardian
- Inquiry into doctor's decade of sex attacks. John Carvel, social
affairs editor
Saturday September 7, 2002 The Guardian
- The inquiries into the deaths of babies during open-heart surgery in
Bristol are over. But for the Stewarts, whose son Ian was left with severe
brain damage, the battle for answers, and justice, goes on. They talk to Sarah
Boseley.
Tuesday
October 22, 2002 The Guardian
- Medical establishment 'covered up' for fraudulent consultant. Sarah
Boseley, health editor
Friday
November 22, 2002 The Guardian
- Complaints against doctors to the General Medical Council have soared over
the past 11 years, a report shows.
BBC News
Thursday, 9 January, 2003
- New proposals for tackling biomedical research fraud and misconduct in the
UK lack sufficient clout to make any real difference, journal editors said
today.
Monday January 27, 2003
- Consultant wrong in third of alleged epilepsy cases. John Carve,
social affairs editor
Wednesday February 5, 2003 The Guardian
- The doctor at the centre of an inquiry into the death of a mother at
London's exclusive Portland Hospital faces disciplinary action amid
accusations of negligence. Jo Revill, health editor
Sunday
March 30, 2003 The Observer
- Heart surgeons will be given star ratings this year based on the death
rates of their patients, a move that could set a precedent for openness. James
Meikle Friday
May 9,
2003 The Guardian
- A nurse who spent three years working alongside serial killer Harold
Shipman said yesterday that she failed to report the former GP for stealing
controlled drugs because of her "implicit" faith in him. Faisal al Yafai
Friday
May 23, 2003 The Guardian
- Forty students offered places at University College London, one of
Britain's most prestigious universities, to study podiatry in September have
been told the course in foot medicine has been cancelled. Polly Curtis
Wednesday June 18, 2003 The Guardian
- 'I am one of the "successful" applicants to the UCL podiatry course'.
Letter
Tuesday July 22, 2003 The Guardian
- The London Foot hospital is to close following the transfer of its
teaching staff from University College London to the University of East
London, it emerged today. Polly Curtis
Tuesday July 22, 2003
- A record number of doctors were prohibited from practising medicine last
year, according to the General Medical Council (GMC). David Batty
Tuesday July 29, 2003
- The NHS "university" today appealed for higher education partners in
England to help teach and train thousands of staff throughout the health
service. Donald MacLeod
Tuesday August 26, 2003
- Patients' complaints about treatment provided by doctors outside normal
working hours have risen significantly over the past seven years, according to
figures published today.
Monday September 15, 2003
- Students and lecturers of the London Foot Hospital are meeting today to
come up with a "battle plan" to prevent its closure.
Monday September 29, 2003
- A substantial number of medical schools will oppose any moves by the
government to shift responsibility for funding them from the Department of
Education and Skills to the Department of Health. But that doesn't mean they
are entirely happy with the way things are - far from it.
Tuesday September 30, 2003 The Guardian
- Government plans to transfer the funding of medical and dental teaching
from the Department for Education and Skills to the Department of Health have
reached an advanced stage, the Guardian can reveal today, in the face of
fierce opposition from universities and doctors' leaders.
Tuesday September 30, 2003 The Guardian
- One in four family doctors feel they lack the proper training to identify
suspected cases of breast cancer, according to research released today.
Monday October 6, 2003 The Guardian
- Complaints about a consultant whose epilepsy diagnoses for nearly 700
children have been changed were made years before he was suspended in May
2001, an inquiry revealed yesterday. James Meikle, health correspondent
Tuesday October 21, 2003 The Guardian
- A doctor at a children's hospital where thousands of organs were
stockpiled by a maverick pathologist failed to intervene when presented with
early evidence of the scandal, the General Medical Council was told yesterday.
Helen Carter
Tuesday December 16, 2003 The Guardian
- A retired consultant psychiatrist began a seven-year jail sentence
yesterday for raping a patient in the 1980s. Martin Wainwright
Wednesday December 17, 2003 The Guardian
- The British Medical Association, which represents Britain's doctors, has
been rocked by allegations that it is racist and operates along the lines of a
Victorian gentlemen's club. Jo Revill, health editor
Sunday February 1, 2004 The Observer
- Seven doctors were today appearing before a disciplinary hearing at the
General Medical Council (GMC) over allegations that they irresponsibly
prescribed drugs to heroin addicts in a case that could determine how drug
addiction is treated in the UK.
Monday February 23, 2004
- David Southall, the consultant paediatrician who has been the target of
child abuse campaigners over many years, has been cleared by the General
Medical Council of all allegations relating to his research on newborn babies,
it emerged yesterday. Sarah Boseley, health editor
Thursday March 4, 2004 The Guardian
- The controversial self-regulation regime for doctors and nurses has come
under renewed pressure after a ruling that a patient watchdog could refer
healthcare staff cleared of misconduct by professional bodies to the high
court. The high court ruling gives the Council for the Regulation of Health
Care Professionals (CRHCP) - set up to ensure that professional regulatory
bodies including the General Medical Council (GMC) and the Nursing and
Midwifery Council (NMC) protect patients - can challenge not guilty verdicts
and unduly lenient sanctions in the high court.
Tuesday March 30, 2004
- The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has voted unanimously to axe nursing
diplomas and move to all-graduate training, in a bid to win "equal status"
with other healthcare professions. The decision, made last week by the
college's governing body, the RCN council, is the second time the college has
attempted to raise the profile of the profession by renouncing traditional
diplomas in favour of nursing degrees. The RCN's decision to place nursing on
an all-graduate route is set to provoke a furious debate at its annual general
meeting next month, because members overturned the same decision last year by
a slim majority. Hélène Mulholland
Monday April 5, 2004
- The General Medical Council apologised yesterday for failing to take
action 16 years ago against a gynaecologist whose subsequent botched
operations have left a trail of women with lifelong complications and
recurring pain. In an unexpected about-turn, the GMC admitted for the first
time that it was informed in 1988 that Richard Neale had been struck off in
Canada for serious professional incompetence leading to two deaths, and that
action should have been taken then. Martin Wainwright
Saturday April 24, 2004 The Guardian
- Patients who suffer unpleasant or unexpected side-effects from a medicine
are for the first time to be allowed to report it themselves directly to the
body which licenses and regulates pharmaceutical drugs in the UK. Sarah
Boseley, health editor
Wednesday May 5, 2004 The Guardian
- After a government pledge to increase GPs, we were given money to expand
training capacity (The health service is on the up, May 19). We worked hard to
encourage experienced GPs to take on the time-consuming and stressful role of
training potential GPs, and succeeded in meeting the target set. Last week, in
an unpublicised and potentially disastrous cut in NHS funding, we were told to
put this process into reverse, as the national training budget had been cut by
£100m (£6m in Yorkshire); 70 fewer doctors will be recruited to start GP
training in Yorkshire next year. Letters
Friday May 21, 2004 The Guardian
- Medical school chiefs are warning of a crisis in teaching medicine and
dentistry as the number of medical academics plummets. There are 15% fewer
academics in medical and dentists schools now than in 2001 - a total of 500
fewer - new figures from the Council of Heads of Medical Schools (CHMS) and
the Council of Deans of Dental Schools (CDDS), revealed today. Medical
departments have seen a 14% drop in academics in the same period that there
has been a 40% surge in student numbers. Polly Curtis
Monday May 24, 2004
- Doctors today warned medical schools to "guard against any kind of
discrimination" as research revealed that just 1.8% of new students come from
the most disadvantaged backgrounds. Polly Curtis
Monday June 21, 2004
- New training methods for doctors could have "dire consequences" with poor
doctors being produced, researchers have warned today. A new study published
in the British Medical Journal warned that moves away from traditional methods
now evident in a third of medical schools towards "student-led and problem
based approaches" were unproven. The authors, from Bristol University, said
students with inadequate knowledge will go on to become poor clinicians. David
Callaghan
Friday July 9, 2004
- Senior doctors, a judge, nurses and social workers yesterday urged the
General Medical Council not to end the "pioneering" career of David Southall,
a leading consultant paediatrician, because of one error of judgment. They
said that said striking Professor Southall, 56, off the medical register would
have a "catastrophic" impact on the demoralised paediatric profession. The
consultant has been found guilty of abusing his professional position by
accusing a father of murdering his two babies on the basis of watching a
television documentary. Sandra Laville
Friday
August 6, 2004 The Guardian
- Too few medics are considering careers in teaching and research, which
leaves a question mark over who will be left to train doctors in the future,
the British Medical Association warned today. Polly Curtis, education
correspondent
Wednesday August 25, 2004
- Six family doctors and a pathologist criticised by the inquiry into
Britain's worst serial killer Harold Shipman are to face charges of serious
professional misconduct, the General Medical Council (GMC) confirmed today.
The GPs who worked in Hyde, Greater Manchester, where Shipman also worked as a
family doctor, were criticised for regularly signing cremation forms for the
mass murderer despite the suspicious circumstances of his patients' deaths.
The Shipman inquiry criticised Dr Peter Bennett, Dr Susan Booth, Dr Jeremy
Dirckze, Dr Stephen Farrar, Dr Alistair MacGillivray and Dr Rajesh Patel for
failing to question Shipman's unusually high death rates, his presence at many
deaths and his description of "old age" and "natural causes" as the cause of
death.
Tuesday August 31, 2004
- Universities have been forced to turn away thousands of top quality
candidates for medical courses as admissions officers struggle to select the
best applicants from the biggest ever pool of A-grade students. Polly Curtis,
education correspondent
Thursday September 2, 2004
- Separate reports into the abuses carried out by disgraced doctors Clifford
Ayling and Richard Neale yesterday called for changes to medical protocol to
ensure the safety of female patients. James Meikle, health correspondent
Friday
September 10, 2004 The Guardian
- Nothing in the government's reform of the NHS is certain to protect
patients from another doctor such as Clifford Ayling, the GP convicted of
sexually abusing women in his clinics, an independent report said yesterday.
Sarah Boseley, health editor
Friday September 10, 2004 The Guardian
- A pathologist who carried out a flawed post mortem examination of a
patient given a lethal morphine injection by Britain's most prolific serial
killer, Harold Shipman, was cleared today of serious professional misconduct.
The General Medical Council (GMC) found that David Lyle Bee, 74, did make
mistakes during the postmortem examination but they did not amount to serious
professional misconduct.
Wednesday September 29, 2004
- Medical students are subjected to humiliation and intimidation from senior
male doctors in front of patients, other students and medical staff,
researchers said today.
Friday October 1, 2004
- Addicts' pleas as doctors face GMC. Drug users fear clinic that saved them
will close. Nick Davies
Monday
October 4, 2004 The Guardian
- The case of a doctor who accused the husband of cleared solicitor Sally
Clark of killing his two sons is to be reviewed by the high court because the
punishment he was given may have been too lenient, it emerged today. Professor
David Southall, 56, accused Steve Clark of killing his children Christopher
and Harry after he watched a Channel 4 Dispatches documentary about the case
in April 2000.
Friday October 8, 2004
- The GMC is right to come down hard on doctors who wrongly prescribe
complementary medicine. Edzard Ernst
Tuesday
November 16, 2004 The Guardian
- Six family doctors today face charges of serious professional misconduct
for failings that helped the serial killer GP Harold Shipman's crimes remain
undetected for so long. The GPs, who all worked in Hyde, Greater Manchester,
close to the surgeries run by Shipman, counter-signed cremation forms, but
failed to notice the killer's unusually high death rates. Doctors Peter
Bennett, Susan Booth, Jeremy Dirckze, Stephen Farrar, Alastair MacGillivray
and Rajesh Patel will appear before the fitness to practice panel of the
General Medical Council (GMC) in Manchester.
Monday November 22, 2004
- Medical negligence claims are decided in secretive and unaccountable
closed sessions with expert witnesses who are not subject to any regulation
and may hold outdated opinions, a senior doctor says today in an article
urging extensive reform. Sarah Boseley, health editor
Friday December 3, 2004 The Guardian
- The General Medical Council (GMC), which disciplines doctors, was
criticised today for "looking after their own" by the chairwoman of the
inquiry into the serial killer GP Harold Shipman. Debbie Andalo
Thursday December 9, 2004
- Doctors' leaders have warned the government not to overact when it
considers the recommendations of the inquiry report into GP serial killer
Harold Shipman. The BMA, which represents UK doctors, said the profession has
learned lessons since Shipman, a GP in Hyde, Greater Manchester, was convicted
of murdering 15 of his patients in January 2000. Debbie Andalo
Thursday December 9, 2004
- The head of the General Medical Council (GMC) this afternoon responded to
scathing criticism of his organisation by Dame Janet Smith in her latest
inquiry report into serial killer GP Harold Shipman. Debbie Andalo
Thursday December 9, 2004
- The health secretary, John Reid, reassured MPs today that the government
is working with the medical profession to strengthen the rules governing
doctors, following hard-hitting criticisms of the General Medical Council
(GMC) in an inquiry report into the serial killer GP, Harold Shipman. His
remarks came in a written statement to parliament outlining his response to
the fifth Shipman inquiry report, which said the GMC, the doctors' governing
body, was guilty of "looking after their own". Debbie Andalo
Thursday December 9, 2004
- Dame Janet Smith's latest report on the Shipman case highlights the need
to overhaul the doctors' regulator, says Adrian O'Dowd. Adrian O'Dowd
Friday December 10, 2004
- The General Medical Council failed in its primary task of looking after
patients because it was too involved in protecting doctors, Dame Janet Smith
concludes in her fifth report into the murderous career of serial killer
Harold Shipman. She draws back from recommending the abolition of the council
but recommends an overhaul of the GMC's constitution to ensure the body is no
longer dominated by its elected medical members. It should also be directly
accountable to parliament. David Ward
Friday
December 10, 2004 The Guardian
- The government has postponed introduction of a General Medical Council
scheme for assessing doctors, saying it needs re-examining in the light of the
Shipman inquiry - which was highly critical of the medical watchdog. Sam Jones
Friday
December 17, 2004 The Guardian
- A consultant risks being struck off the General Medical Council's list
over charges that she brought to an end the life of a comatose patient
"earlier than would have occurred naturally". After telling Ann David, an
anaesthetist, that no action would be taken, the GMC brought professional
misconduct charges, telling her "there was a considerable public interest in
testing allegations concerning the ethical question of the withdrawal of
treatment". She failed to overturn the decision in the high court. Clare Dyer
Friday
January 14, 2005 The Guardian
- Britain faces a desperate shortage of medical experts after major funding
cuts hit universities, the British Medical Association warned today. Patients
will suffer as more doctors are trained by non-specialists, while medical
breakthroughs become much less likely in future, the BMA said.
Friday January 21, 2005
- A leading paediatrician who accused the husband of Sally Clark of
murdering the couple's two baby sons after seeing him in a television
documentary was saved being struck off the medical register by the high court
yesterday. Mr Justice Collins said Professor David Southall had "neither the
sense nor the humility" to back down from his "seriously flawed" allegations.
But the judge ruled that the General Medical Council had acted reasonably in
allowing him to continue to work as a paediatrician as long as there was no
risk to the public. Clare Dyer, legal editor
Friday
April 15, 2005 The Guardian
- A family doctor charged the NHS hundreds of thousands of pounds for
unnecessary night visits over eight years, the General Medical Council heard
yesterday.
Tuesday
May 10, 2005 The Guardian
- The heads of the UK's medical and dental schools are calling for urgent
investment in the sector to stem the continued decline in clinical academics.
A survey conducted by the Council of Heads of Medical Schools (CHMS) and the
Council of Heads and Deans of Dental Schools (CHDDS), published yesterday,
found that the number of clinical academics fell from 3,617 to 3,555 between
2003 and 2004. Liz Ford Tuesday
June 7, 2005
- Lisa Arthurworrey, the social worker sacked for failing to prevent the
murder of child abuse victim Victoria Climbié, won the right to resume a
career working with children yesterday. She overturned a decision by the
former education secretary, Charles Clarke, to place her on the protection of
children register, which ended her career in the profession, at a care
standards tribunal yesterday. The tribunal upheld her appeal and concluded
that her role in the Climbié case did not merit permanent exclusion. John
Carvel, social affairs editor
Thursday June 9, 2005 The Guardian
- Parents handed 80 letters of complaint to the doctor's regulatory body,
the General Medical Council, this afternoon about a consultant paediatrician
who misdiagnosed their children or mistreated them for epilepsy. The doctor at
the centre of their complaints, Dr Andrew Holton gave wrong diagnoses or
medication to more than 600 young patients while working at Leicester Royal
Infirmary in the 1990s, a review found. The parents' protest follows a hearing
at Nottingham county court last week when a high court judge agreed an
innovative new process to speed up compensation claims for the children's
families. The claims are expected to run into millions of pounds in total and
take years to complete. Debbie Andalo
Wednesday June 22, 2005
- A senior paediatrician whose expert testimony led to Sally Clark being
jailed for the murder of her two baby sons hugely underestimated the
likelihood that they died from natural causes, a disciplinary hearing heard
today. The General Medical Council heard that the chances of two cot deaths in
the same family were once every two or three years, not once every 100 years
as Professor Sir Roy Meadow told Mrs Clark's trial. Professor Sir David Cox,
former professor of statistics at Imperial College, London, told the GMC
fitness to practise hearing that the odds of two children from the same family
dying from sudden infant death syndrome (Sids) were much higher because they
shared the same genetics and were exposed to similar environmental factors.
Friday June 24, 2005
- A disciplinary hearing against four of the six GPs who worked closely with
serial killer Harold Shipman is to resume in Manchester today. The General
Medical Council (GMC) will resume the serious professional misconduct hearing
against Shipman's colleagues who signed cremation forms for England's most
prolific serial killer, who committed suicide while in prison last year. The
hearing was adjourned last December after two of the six doctors were cleared
of any misconduct due to insufficient evidence. Roxanne Escobales
Monday June 27, 2005
- Harold Shipman was regarded as "practising excellent medicine" by his
colleagues, a doctor told a disciplinary hearing today.
Tuesday June 28, 2005
- A GP who countersigned cremation forms for victims of Harold Shipman said
he thought the serial killer was just an "old-fashioned GP". Dr Alastair
MacGillivray was also unquestioning about the high number of deaths recorded
by the former GP who murdered at least 215 patients with lethal diamorphine
injections.
Wednesday June 29, 2005
- A senior paediatrician whose testimony led to a mother being
wrongfully jailed for the murder of her two baby sons today denied he was an
expert on child abuse. Defending himself against charges of serious
professional misconduct at the General Medical Council (GMC), Sir Roy Meadow
claimed that despite having edited a book entitled The ABC Of Child Abuse, he
could not be considered a child protection "guru". He also told the
disciplinary hearing that he was not an expert in sudden infant death syndrome
(Sids), commonly known as cot death, despite having claimed during Mrs Clark's
trial that it was unlikely to have been the cause of her sons' deaths.
Tuesday July 5, 2005 SocietyGuardian.co.uk
- The senior paediatrician whose expert testimony helped wrongly convict
Sally Clark for the murder of her two baby sons, gave "erroneous" and
"misleading" evidence in her trial, the General Medical Council ruled today.
Debbie Andalo and agencies
Wednesday July 13, 2005
- A senior paediatrician whose misleading testimony led to a mother being
wrongfully jailed for the murder of her two baby sons was today struck off the
medical register. The General Medical Council (GMC) found Professor Sir Roy
Meadow, 72, guilty of serious professional misconduct for giving evidence
beyond his expertise at the trial of solicitor Sally Clark. Prof Meadow, a
former president of the Royal College of Paediatricians, is now barred from
practising medicine in the UK. Prof Meadow wrongly stated in Mrs Clark's trial
in 1999 that there was just a "one in 73 million" chance that two babies from
an affluent family like hers could suffer cot death. The actual odds were only
one in 77. Roxanne Escobales and David Batty
Friday July 15, 2005
- Q&A: Sir Roy Meadow's disciplinary hearing. The child abuse expert
Professor Sir Roy Meadow has been struck off the medical register for
"seriously misleading" evidence that led to Sally Clark's wrongful conviction
for murdering her baby sons. David Batty examines the controversy.
Friday July 15, 2005
- Timeline: Sir Roy Meadow. Senior paediatrician Professor Sir Roy Meadow,
whose expert evidence helped jail Sally Clark, Angela Cannings and other women
who were later cleared of murdering their children, has today been struck off
the medical register by a disciplinary tribunal. David Batty explains the
history of the case.
Friday July 15, 2005
- A 72-year-old doctor, knighted for his services to child health, must be
wondering this weekend why he ever decided to devote his career to saving
children from abuse. Sir Roy Meadow has been struck off the medical register
by the General Medical Council for evidence he gave during the trial of Sally
Clark, who was convicted of killing her sons, Christopher and Harry. She was
later cleared and something akin to a witch-hunt began against Meadow for the
way he used statistics in his role as an expert witness during her trial. Yet
the need for professionals to protect the young is greater than ever. What
younger doctors will want to shoulder that burden, having heard the vitriol
heaped upon Meadow and his profession? The GMC was never the right forum for
hearing such a case. Leader
Sunday July 17, 2005 The Observer
- The court of appeal has come to the defence of Professor Sir Roy Meadow,
the paediatrician struck off for giving misleading statistical evidence in the
Sally Clark case, insisting that he "had, and still has, enormous expertise"
in child abuse cases. Three appeal judges made the statement in their judgment
rejecting an appeal by Paul Martin, who is serving a life sentence for the
murder of his girlfriend's seven-month-old baby. Clare Dyer, legal editor
Saturday
July 23, 2005 The Guardian
- I fear that Professor Sir Roy Meadow has been sacrificed (Comment, last
week) to save us all from embarrassment. He certainly failed to understand the
difference between data (information) and statistics (processing that
information). But what of everyone else involved?
Sunday July 24, 2005 The Observer
- GMC wrong to dismiss mother's claim, says court. A mother who says
one of her daughters died and another was brain damaged during trials at North
Staffordshire Hospital of a controversial ventilator machine for premature
babies won a battle in her campaign for a public hearing against three doctors
yesterday. Sarah Boseley
Wednesday December 14, 2005 The Guardian
- Children are being left at risk of abuse because doctors are afraid to
speak out following the pillorying of paediatricians in the media and by the
General Medical Council, senior doctors warn today. In a strongly worded
article for a leading medical journal, a former president of the Royal College
of Paediatrics and Child Health criticises the GMC, the doctors' regulatory
body, for the disciplinary action it took against the child protection experts
Roy Meadow and David Southall. Sarah Boseley, health editor
Thursday January 5, 2006 The Guardian
- A gynaecologist found guilty of professional misconduct after he botched
an abortion has been cleared to work as a doctor for a second time after a
tribunal investigated 15 new allegations. The General Medical Council found
Andrew Gbinigie guilty of professional misconduct in 2003 after the abortion
in Birmingham, during which the woman's uterus was ripped open, and her ovary,
ureter and a piece of bowel pulled out. He was allowed to remain working as a
registered doctor subject to conditions. He was not permitted to carry out
procedures without immediate access to senior colleagues and was subject to
random audits. The GMC's decision sparked a campaign by a tabloid newspaper
and 35 more women came forward to complain about his conduct. A closed
tribunal yesterday heard 15 of those cases but decided to allow him to
continue to practise. Polly Curtis, health correspondent
Saturday January 14, 2006 The Guardian
- The dental board called it "unprofessional". Patients called it
excruciating after a dentist allowed her boyfriend, who had no dental
training, to work on more than 600 of them. The General Dental Council this
week struck off Mogjan Azari, 39, who was the principal dentist at two
practices in south London, for "dishonest" conduct "contrary to the best
interests of patients". Jacqueline Maley
Wednesday January 18, 2006 The Guardian
- Two doctors who failed to seek specialist medical care for elderly
patients in their nursing home, even when they were gravely ill and dying,
were struck off by the General Medical Council yesterday. Jamalapuram Hari
Gopal and his wife, Pratury Samrajya Lakshmi, took full control of the medical
welfare of the elderly residents at their Birmingham home but failed to ensure
that they were cared for or prevent them from suffering neglect. The GMC was
told that inspectors could find no records to indicate that appropriate
medical treatment had been sought, even in the most extreme circumstances.
Hugh Muir and Diane Taylor
Saturday January 21, 2006 The Guardian
- Professor Sir Roy Meadow today won his appeal against being struck off the
medical register for giving misleading testimony that led to a mother being
wrongfully jailed for the murder of her two baby sons. The senior
paediatrician, 73, was found guilty of serious professional misconduct last
July for providing "erroneous" evidence that helped convict Sally Clark of
murdering her two sons in 1999 - a verdict later quashed. But today high court
judge Mr Justice Collins ruled any witness giving evidence in a court of law
is protected from civil prosecution. He said he allowed Sir Roy's appeal
against the General Medical Council's decision to strike him off the medical
register. The judge also ruled that Sir Roy's actions in Ms Clark's case could
not properly be regarded as serious professional misconduct.
Friday
February 17, 2006 Guardian Unlimited
- A nurse who put a patient's glass eye in a ward sister's drink, painted a
smiley face on another patient's fist-sized hernia and falsified patient
records with a "magic pen" was banned from nursing yesterday. Christine
Mitchelson, 53, was also said to have made racist remarks about her colleagues
and to have roughly treated five patients by pushing them on to a bed or chair
and in one case slapping one on the head. David Ward
Friday
February 17, 2006 The Guardian
- Q&A: Sir Roy Meadow. The paediatrician Professor Sir Roy Meadow has won
his appeal against being struck off the medical register for "seriously
misleading" evidence that led to Sally Clark's wrongful conviction for
murdering her baby sons. David Batty examines the controversy.
Friday February 17, 2006
- Doctors who give mistaken expert evidence in child abuse cases were
granted immunity in law from disciplinary action yesterday in a groundbreaking
high court ruling that cleared the controversial paediatrician Professor Sir
Roy Meadow of serious professional misconduct. Mr Justice Collins said Prof
Meadow, 73, should never have been struck off the medical register by the
General Medical Council for providing mistaken statistical evidence that may
helped wrongfully convict the solicitor Sally Clark of murdering her two
babies. He said the case should never have been heard in the first place by
the disciplinary body. Claire Dyer and Sandra Laville
Saturday February 18, 2006 The Guardian
- The mother of eight lauded and criticised in equal measure for her
campaign to expose Sir Roy Meadow as an over-zealous child snatcher made no
apologies yesterday. Penny Mellor, a housewife from the West Midlands, has
become a tireless voice for men and women who say they have been wrongly
accused of abuse and have had their children removed in the family courts as a
result. In the coming months Mrs Mellor will be supporting at least five
families who want to reactivate complaints to the General Medical Council
about Professor Meadow despite yesterday's court ruling. Sandra Laville
Saturday February 18, 2006 The Guardian
-
ITCs threaten
clinical training, admits DoH. Bob Ricketts, the Department of Health's head
of access, policy development and capacity, has admitted that doctors' training
is being put at risk by the government's introduction of independent treatment
centres. He told the Commons health select committee this was the "biggest
issue" to do with the policy. But he said that it would be the job of the SHA to
monitor training.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of Health Service Journal 17 March 2006
- A world expert on the treatment of heroin addiction may be struck off the
medical register after the General Medical Council decided yesterday that he
had been irresponsible in the way he prescribed opiates and other drugs to
some of his patients. The GMC's findings will dismay those who think Colin
Brewer, founder of the private Stapleford Centre, and his colleagues were
saving heroin addicts from crime and destitution by maintaining them on
opiates over long periods. Some of their patients say they have been able to
lead normal lives for years as a result of the treatment. But the GMC's
fitness to practise panel yesterday found that Dr Brewer had acted
irresponsibly and inappropriately towards 13 of his patients. It will meet
again to decide whether to strike him off the medical register. One of the
Stapleford Centre patients died during a "home detox" undertaken at Dr
Brewer's suggestion. Sarah Boseley, health editor
Saturday March 25, 2006 The Guardian
- NHS facing
'worse financial crisis'. Postgraduate deaneries, the bodies that oversee
the training of doctors, have been warned to expect large reductions in their
budgets. SHAs and deaneries have been told by the DoH that their training
budgets for 2006-7 are likely to be cut. A letter from an SHA to the directors
of finance of ten PCTs and seven NHS trusts warns them to plan on the basis
that deaneries budgets will be cut by 10%. Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of
Telegraph 26 March 2006
- The council that regulates 670,000 nurses and midwives in the UK has only
checked up on 60 of them in the last five years, according to a recent report.
Trade magazine the Nursing Standard said it had learned that the Nursing and
Midwifery Council (NMC) had performed just a few checks in 2001 and 2002 and
none since then.
Wednesday April 19, 2006 9:03 AM
- Parents win ruling to send doctors back to GMC
over misdiagnosis. Daughter suffered chronic fatigue, not
child
abuse. Spotlight on secrecy in family justice system. Clare Dyer,
legal editor
Monday May 1, 2006 The Guardian
- Joint fund
'could revive NHS research'. Prof Colin Blakemore, the chief executive of
the Medical Research Council, has said the decline in
clinical studies in the NHS has been caused in part by the
diversion of funds away from long-term medical research to cut waiting
lists.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of
Telegraph 9 May 2006
- New consultants
lack jobs because of NHS cash crisis. Many trained surgeons remain
unemployed due to NHS
deficits, according to Bernad Ribeiro, president of the Royal College of
Surgeons. He said the £1bn deficit has left trusts unable to hire new
surgeons, with many operating vacancy freezes to help recoup massive debts. As
a result, many surgeons with lengthy and expensive
training, paid largely by the taxpayer, are going to waste. Mr Ribeiro
warned that the vacancy freezes were having a further effect upon junior
doctors as they struggle to find higher surgical training that is blocked by
registrars unable to move up the ladder. Mr Ribiero also criticised the new
Department of Health reforms to doctor training, scheduled for August 2007. He
questioned the lack of experience new doctors could become qualified with; as
well as the dangers inherent in the new training scheme's supposed
flexibility, and the possible career cul-de-sac it may leave many doctors in.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of
Guardian 5 June 2006
- Radical proposals to shake up the regulation of doctors, including what
was immediately dubbed a "copper's nark" in every hospital, met with serious
opposition from the profession yesterday. The plans, published by the chief
medical officer, Sir Liam Donaldson, include overhauling the General Medical
Council, which regulates and disciplines doctors. The self-regulation doctors
have enjoyed for decades would be watered down. At the moment, the GMC
investigates, prosecutes and judges errant doctors. Under the Donaldson plans,
cases will be decided by an independent tribunal. More doctors could
theoretically be struck off because the prosecution will no longer have to
establish misconduct beyond reasonable doubt - the criminal standard of proof
- but by the easier measure of the balance of probability, as in civil cases.
Sarah Boseley, health editor
Saturday July 15, 2006 The Guardian
- Inspectors to
make tougher checks on NHS trust doctors. The biggest shake-up of medical
regulation for 150 years will see medical inspectors in every NHS trust to
assess doctors every five years against a "good doctor" standard. The
proposals are an attempt to avoid medical scandals such as the Harold Shipman
case, according to the government's chief medical officer, but are facing
warnings from medical organisations that they may be unfair and unworkable.
The BMA objects to the switch from the General Medical Council's criminal
standard of proof 'beyond reasonable doubt' to the civil standard 'balance of
probability'. The move will also see the powers of the GMC curbed, though it
will have an extended role through the new medical inspectors who would be
affiliated to the council. Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of Independent
15 July 2006
- A doctor accused by a senior judge of peddling "junk science" as an expert
witness in a court case is facing action by the General Medical Council which
could strip her of the right to practise. Jane Donegan, a GP and homeopath,
gave evidence for two mothers who were fighting attempts by their former
partners to have their children given childhood immunisations. The mothers
opposed immunisation altogether, believing it unnecessary and possibly
dangerous. Clare Dyer, legal editor
Monday
October 2, 2006 The Guardian
- A code published yesterday holds doctors to the highest standards of moral
behaviour in their private life, with their right to practise at risk if they
form sexual relationships with former patients or view pornography.
Sarah Boseley, health editor
Tuesday
October 24, 2006 The Guardian
- Paediatrician accused of misconduct. A controversial paediatrician
allegedly accused a grieving mother of hanging her 10-year-old son, the
General Medical Council in London was told yesterday. Professor David
Southall, a consultant paediatrician at North Staffordshire hospital,
Stoke-on-Trent, acted as "detective or crown prosecutor" while telling the
mother she had drugged the boy and then wrapped an adult belt around a curtain
pole before buckling it round his neck, the disciplinary tribunal was told.
Sarah Hall, health correspondent
Tuesday
November 14, 2006 The Guardian
- Health education 'under threat' from NHS cash raids.
Universities have warned that health education is
under threat if training budgets continue to be redirected to prop up the
cash-strapped NHS. Alexandra Smith
Wednesday November 22, 2006 EducationGuardian.co.uk
- Complex funding
methods put supply of next generation of doctors at risk, says BMA. The
supply of doctors is being jeopardised by the university funding system which
is diverting money from medical training budgets into research, the British
Medical Association has warned. Falling numbers of medical academics are also
helping to push the burden of training the next generation of health
professionals on to the NHS where it is vulnerable to cutbacks. The
association also warned against any attempt to raise the level of tuition
fees, which are currently capped at £3,000 per year. Emily Rigby, who chairs
the medical students committee, said that debt levels had now reached an all
time high, with the average final year student owing £21,755. Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of Financial
Times 4 January 2007
- Inquiry into criminal cases after expert witness's secret patient files
revealed. Controversial professor kept 4,450 'special' files.
Goldsmith acts over fears of withheld evidence. The attorney general launched
a review yesterday of criminal cases over the last decade in which the
controversial paediatrician David Southall acted as a prosecution witness,
amid concerns about nearly 4,500 secret files he kept on patients and former
patients. Clare Dyer, legal editor
Wednesday February 21, 2007 The Guardian
- Doctors face independent scrutiny in GMC shake-up. Doctors will
lose the privilege of self-regulation under a raft of government proposals
designed to shore up public confidence in the medical profession following a
series of scandals. A government white paper on the regulation of doctors and
other healthcare professionals yesterday set out its vision of a new-look
General Medical Council, which will be smaller, have equal numbers of doctors
and lay members, and will hand over disciplinary decisions to an independent
tribunal. Sarah Boseley, health editor
Thursday February 22, 2007 The Guardian
- Doctors warn chaos over training posts 'will haunt NHS'. Doctors'
leaders have asked the government to suspend a new system for recruiting junior
doctors and warned it is "fatally flawed". The British Medical Association (BMA)
has written to the health secretary, Patricia Hewitt, urging a halt and said the
system will "haunt the NHS for years to come". Modernising Medical Careers was
introduced by the government as a new way of recruiting junior doctors to
specialist training posts. But the process has been beset by problems, including
computer crashes and strong applicants being overlooked. Press association
Tuesday
March 6, 2007 SocietyGuardian.co.uk
- Rebellion over
doctor recruitment. A group of consultants from the West Midlands are
refusing to interview candidates for specialist training over what they see as a
flawed and unfair application system. The British Medical Association is calling
on the government to suspend the system. However the Department of Health
refused saying that it was fair and would help to raise standards. The system
was revamped in 2005, enabling doctors to qualify as consultants in 11 years
instead of 14. However the BMA estimates that over 28,000 junior doctors are
competing for 22,000 posts, and that the system to process applications is badly
organised and cannot cope, a claim supported by the crash of a computer system
designed to process applications, which couldn't handle the volume it received.
It also says that there is growing evidence that able doctors have not been
offered any interviews in a system involving non-medically trained staff and
which leaves consultants inadequate time to compile shortlists. The West
Midlands consultants said: "We owe it to our patients and the profession that we
are able to select and appoint the best candidates to surgical training posts
and felt strongly that this was impossible today." They added that applicants
had been informed and were supportive. In a letter to Health Secretary Patricia
Hewitt, the BMA warned: "Patients and doctors alike must be able to have
confidence that the doctors selected to become the consultants of the future
have been chosen because of their own excellence rather than as the result of a
capricious and unfair system. This is not the case at present; the selection
process is fatally flawed, and doctors have no confidence in it. If it is
allowed to go ahead, the effect of this debacle on the morale of all doctors,
not just those directly involved but those whose friends and colleagues are
suffering, will haunt the NHS for years to come." Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of BBC
Online 6 March 2007
- Doctors who face the dole. Medics expected to be consultants are now
thinking of quitting. One of them is my husband. Sarah Hall
Tuesday March 6, 2007 The Guardian
- Review may scrap selection process for junior doctors. Critics
claim system failed top candidates. BMA demands suspension of whole
interview process. A controversial new selection process for junior doctors
could be scrapped by a high-level review, announced by the government last
night, following an outcry over the failure of some of the best-qualified to get
a single job interview. The review will be led by the medical royal colleges. In
an urgent attempt to sort out perceived injustices and regain the confidence of
doctors, the first meeting will take place today. Decisions on whether to
continue with the first round of interviews will be taken tomorrow. Thousands of
young doctors who may already have spent seven or eight years training to become
consultants were left contemplating the end of their careers when they received
emails last week telling them that they had failed to get even one interview out
of a possible four for jobs to begin in August. Sarah Boseley, health editor
Wednesday
March 7, 2007 The Guardian
- Government to continue 'flawed' doctor interviews. The government
said today it will continue interviewing junior doctors under a heavily
criticised new recruitment system - despite ordering an urgent review of the
scheme. Health minister Lord Hunt said scrapping the first round of the process
would only cause more confusion. Around 30,000 junior doctors have applied for
22,000 places under the new selection process and there has been an outcry over
the failure of some of the best qualified junior doctors to get a single job
interview. Press Association
Wednesday
March 7, 2007 SocietyGuardian.co.uk
- Doctors furious
over "arrogance" of ministers. Doctor's leaders accused the Government of
"arrogance" yesterday as health minister Lord Hunt angered the profession by
playing down the chaos resulting from the new selection system for junior
doctors. The British Medical Association accused the ministers of arrogance in
not heeding warnings last year. But Lord Hunt rejected the criticism, telling
Radio 4s Today programme: "I think [suspending the process] would be very
unwise. When the royal colleges met this week, they said they did not want us to
suspend it. We know the system is working well in many parts of the country.
There are many, many interviews taking place at the moment. Simply to stop it
would cause more uncertainty and concern amongst many of those doctors. For the
GPs, the system appears to be working very well indeed. This system was designed
with a huge input from doctors themselves," he added. "It did emphasise
practical skills and competencies." When asked about the many doctors left
without a job, Lord Hunt said: "Let's be clear, there has always been
competition for these specialist training places and there ought to be because
these are the senior jobs. It's important we get the right people." He went on
admit that lessons could be learned from the first round of interviews but
denied ministers had been arrogant. Dr Jonathan Fielden, the chairman of the
BMA's consultants' committee condemned the Government's handling of the issue
saying that they ignored warnings last summer and that, "the arrogance of the
department in ignoring this has resulted in the most devastating effect on a
generation of junior doctors. We have never seen such a response, such anger to
what is going on." A BMA spokesman later rejected Lord Hunt's claims on the
success of the selection process saying: "The message we are getting from
doctors is that the system is not working well in many parts of the country, far
from it," he said. "There is little or no confidence left in the system." Prof
Dinesh Bhugra, the Dean of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, voiced worries
about the "total lack of transparency" in the selection process. He said: "The
impact of potential unemployment and the uncertainty on the human rights and
mental health of trainees, their partners and families cannot be
under-estimated." Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of Telegraph
8 March 2007
- Growing boycott
of flawed recruitment. The row over training of junior doctors has
intensified as more senior consultants decided to boycott the interview panels.
Hopes that a Government climbdown on Tuesday would reduce pressure to abandon
the new system faded as two more groups decided they could not conduct the
interviews when they were not confident that the right candidates had been
selected for interview. Eight plastic surgeons on the panel in the
North West, based in
Manchester, have informed the postgraduate training body that they will not
proceed with the interviews scheduled for later this month. They said the
interviews should be rescheduled for a later date, when candidates' CVs should
be taken into account. Patricia Hewitt, the Health Secretary, agreed for an
immediate review of the system, which is now being carried out by the Academy of
Medical Royal Colleges. It may call for some changes. The British Medical
Association's junior and senior doctors say the system should be suspended. The
Royal College of Surgeons and the Royal College of Anaesthetists have made their
own protests.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of Telegraph
9 March 2007
- Climbdown over NHS job rules for doctors. Computerised
application system abandoned. Junior medics return to CV and interview.
Thousands of promising young doctors who were contemplating emigrating or
switching careers are to have a second chance at a high-flying job in the NHS
following a government climbdown last night. The computerised application system
for the training posts that lead to consultant jobs was scrapped by a review set
up this week to establish why many of the best-qualified candidates had been
left without a single interview. Sarah Boseley, health editor
Saturday
March 10, 2007 The Guardian
- Doctors to march
in battle over jobs. A broad spectrum of
Scotland's medical
profession is to descend on Glasgow in an unprecedented protest against the
controversial new recruitment system for junior doctors. Senior consultants will
march from the city centre to the Western Infirmary alongside junior medics and
students to call for an end to procedures they warn are overlooking the most
able candidates for interview shortlists. They are warning the revised process
is forcing some of the country's brightest young medics to seek employment
abroad, or abandon their medical careers altogether. In the face of such
criticism, the government has moved to revise, partly, the MTAS system, allowing
junior doctors to submit CVs and portfolios in support of their applications.
Nevertheless, junior doctors remain adamant that the NHS should return to its
previous recruitment system, and intend to intensify their campaign at this
weekend's marches in Glasgow and London.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of Herald
11 March 2007
- Hewitt told 'a
year ago' about likely crisis over doctors' jobs. Patricia Hewitt, the
Health Secretary, has been thrust to the centre of the row over junior doctor
recruitment, after the Tories revealed that she had shrugged off their warnings
over the new training system more than a year ago. Hundreds of young doctors
have not even secured interviews after applying for specialist posts using a
new, online selection system. The Government admitted that a review had found
"shortcomings" in the system, which may have lost hundreds of applications
because of computer glitches. However, Andrew Lansley, the shadow health
secretary, said Miss Hewitt had ignored warnings about likely problems almost 15
months ago. Mr Lansley pointed out a "serious potential problem" with the
selection system in a Commons debate on Dec 20, 2005. Ms Hewitt insisted then
that the new system, Modernising Medical Careers (MMC) was "an improvement".
Senior medical sources suggested that the situation is even graver than has
previously been suggested. Instead of 33,000 applicants chasing 22,000 available
jobs, the actual number of jobs available may have been only 18,500. Sources
also suggested that 1,300 applications went missing from the website because of
computer glitches. The Department of Health said it did not recognise these
figures.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of Telegraph
12 March 2007
- Angry doctors to
march over selection system. Thousands of doctors are expected to march in
London and Glasgow this Saturday over the NHS selection system. Calls are
continuing for the new online applications and interview system to be suspended
despite conciliatory noises from Lord Hunt, the health minister. Figures suggest
that there have been 33,000 applications for 18,500 training posts.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of Telegraph
13 March 2007
- Junior doctor's
chances of work "hurt by agencies". The British Medical Association has
voiced concern over the use of editing services in applications through the
controversial Medical Training Application Service (MTAS), which has faced calls
from doctors for it to be scrapped. Doctor's leaders are concerned that the
process favours those who learn the right responses to questions, rather than
the most qualified. The BMA says that the already flawed process is being
further undermined by the use of companies to edit applications. Dr Graeme
Eunson, chair of the BMA's Scottish Junior Doctors Committee said: "It's
subverting an important process. These are people who are dealing with people's
lives on a day-to-day basis. If someone has gone to a company which says, 'If
you answer in such a way you will score more highly' it automatically brings
concerns about the validity of this process." One company, apply2medicine.co.uk,
offers an "ST Editing" service in which answers to the MTAS questions covering
personal skills, commitment to speciality and "scenario questions" can be edited
for a fee of £235. Remedy UK, a campaign group set up by doctors to oppose the
introduction of MMC, said the application forms neglected doctor's experience.
The selection process has already produced fears of a mass exodus of junior
doctors out of the profession of the country, and these are particularly strong
in Scotland where there have been 9407 applications for 2025 training posts, of
which 5722 have been shortlisted for an interview.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of Herald
13 March 2007
- Opposition grows to doctor recruitment scheme. Calls were stepped up
today for the government to abandon a controversial new process of recruiting
junior doctors to specialist training posts. A poll of more than 1,700 people,
including more than 400 consultants, found that most want the Modernising
Medical Careers (MMC) application process dropped. The new system, launched
earlier this month, has been beset by problems, including computer crashes and
strong applicants being overlooked. Staff and agencies
Friday
March 16, 2007 SocietyGuardian.co.uk
- Specialist training for junior doctors is still a lottery. Letters
Thursday
March 15, 2007 The Guardian
- Top specialist
joins junior doctors' protest. The President of the Royal society of
Medicine, Cancer specialist Baroness Finlay, has joined the protests at the new
training system for junior doctors. Baroness Finlay said that the new system was
rushed in, constantly altered and has left thousands of young doctors without
the prospect of a job. "Thousands of excellent junior doctors fear seeing their
dreams in tatters despite years of hard work," she said. "The greatest tragedy
of all is that medical unemployment is with us and, whatever the appointment
system, there are not enough jobs in the long term. Even those that get trained
have no assurance of a consultant post at the end." Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of Telegraph
15 March 2007
-
Doctors march in row over training reforms. Thousands of
doctors marched in
London and
Glasgow yesterday in protest at reforms to medical training. The new
process, called Modernising Medical Careers (MMC), has come in for widespread
criticism from the BMA, royal colleges, senior medics and trainees. At least
30,000 junior doctors have applied for up to 22,000 specialist posts under MMC,
which it was hoped would speed up training and offer a fairer way of placing
junior doctors in oversubscribed training roles. The government has already
bowed to pressure, announcing that 5,000 more doctors would now be
interviewed. Amelia Hill
Sunday
March 18, 2007 The Observer
- 'It makes us so
angry, such a waste'. Thousands of junior doctors took to the streets at
the weekend to voice their anger over the chaotic new system for allocating
NHS training posts. Wearing white coats and blue surgical gowns they staged a
march through central London culminating in a rally addressed by Conservative
leader David Cameron. They fear the Government's Modernising Medical Careers (MMC)
scheme, designed to speed up the training process to become a consultant, will
split families, drive some doctors abroad and force others to leave the
profession. Some 30,000 are competing for 22,000 posts allocated under a
computer-based system, plagued by technical problems, that critics say takes
scant account of the suitability and experience of candidates. Organisers said
12,000 took part in the march on Saturday, which made its way from the Royal
College of Physicians in Regents Park to the Royal College of Surgeons in
Lincoln's Inn Fields. Mr Cameron was cheered as he described Patricia Hewitt
as "the worst Health Secretary in the history of the NHS". He said that the
Government's promised review of the issue must be "a proper review not a paper
exercise". "They made a promise that every junior doctor in England would have
a training post," he said. "We are going to hold them to that promise." Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of Telegraph
19 March 2007
- NHS wastes
thousands on doctor interviews. The NHS is spending thousands of pounds to
hold job interviews with junior doctors in luxury hotels, football stadiums
and even at a racecourse. Despite the health service having a deficit of more
than £500m at the end of the last financial year, meeting rooms in hospitals
have been shunned in favour of expensive external locations. The revelation is
the latest blow to the controversial Medical Training Application Service (MTAS),
the mechanism by which 30,000 candidates are competing for 22,000 posts.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of Telegraph
19 March 2007
- When gold won't
buy quiet. A leading article in the Guardian reads: "The chaos facing
junior doctors applying for training posts, which is
the immediate cause of the weekend protests, is just the latest in a
line of difficulties.
Deficits requiring cutbacks in parts of the country have been aggravated
by an
inflexible accounting system. The new GP contract was negotiated with
insufficient regard to value for money - as doctors' pay rose, their
responsibility for out-of-hours care was actually reduced - and the public
accounts committee is expected to conclude tomorrow that the deal has now
overshot its planned costs by £300m. The concern in the NHS, however, is that
the policies of a government determined to flex muscle and show that it is
grappling with reform are aggravating the risks. David Cameron has been quick
to pick up on this, highlighting the repeated redrawing of health authority
boundaries and responsibilities, which has indeed been an unhelpful
distraction. Yet looking ahead, the main driver of instability is set to be
the ongoing move to
market-based healthcare, to which the Conservatives are every bit as
committed as Labour. Hospitals have already started the shift from fixed
funding to a system where they are
paid for each procedure they perform, and the prime minister is expected
to set out plans to involve the likes of Boots and Tesco in running GP
surgeries. As the purse strings tighten after 2008, the private sector will
increasingly be substituting for, rather than adding to, established NHS
provision. At that point - even if, which is not certain, the reforms
successfully grind out greater efficiency - they might become unpopular. The
change is more rapid than that in any other country. When he takes the reins,
Gordon Brown may slow the pace. Medics would welcome that, but it might serve
his own interests too." Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of Guardian
19 March 2007
- Junior doctors
raise funds to challenge MMC system. Junior doctors protesting against a
new recruitment system are collecting funds to launch a legal challenge if the
government refuses to address their concerns. Remedy UK, a campaign group
formed to highlight doctors' fears about the Modernising Medical Careers (MMC)
programme, said donors had already given £20,000 to their legal fund. Dr.
Julia McGill, an anaesthetist at
Edinburgh's Western General Hospital, said they were exploring the use of
employment laws, public laws or even human rights laws to have the recruitment
system halted. Doctors have called the online application process "shambolic",
leaving many highly skilled juniors without even an interview for posts due to
start in August. Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of Scotsman
19 March 2007
- Pressure on to
scrap recruiting process. Pressure on the Government to abandon the flawed
Medical Training Application Service for recruiting new consultants has
increased as more senior doctors voice their concerns. Initial calls for the
system to be revised have turned into demands for it to be scrapped all
together. Leading medical academics have called on all the medical colleges to
ballot their members to highlight the shortcomings of the programme. Dr Susan
Burge, president of the British Association of Dermatologists, writing in The
Times, said: "We urge the Department of Health to listen to doctors and invite
the Royal Colleges to produce an alternative system that is acceptable,
transparent and above all, valid. The NHS needs our talented young doctors and
they deserve better than MTAS." The Welsh consultants' committee of the British
Medical Association has urged all consultants involved in the interview process
to pull out and has been putting pressure on the BMA to this end. Opposition to
the system has grown since initial computer system problems delayed the process.
Since then controversy has increased as doubts have been raised about almost all
aspects of the new system. The Department of Health has made some concessions
designed to ensure eligible doctors are not left without interviews. Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of Telegraph
22 March 2007
- Doctors to be
interviewed as system scrapped. The discredited job selection system for
junior doctors was finally aborted after weeks of protest, confusion and
anguish. At least 11,000 young doctors will now be offered traditional
interviews for hospital posts when their CVs will be taken into account and
"probing" questions will be asked. In a compromise solution, everyone will get
one interview for their first choice of training post. But representatives of
the British Medical Association's junior doctors' committee have walked out of
the review group trying to solve the problems. They say one interview is not
enough and unfair to candidates who have already been offered two, three or
four interviews. At the same time, a ballot of members of the Royal College of
Surgeons found that 80% believed the system - with its online application
service, "tick-box" assessments and formulaic interviews - was so "fatally
flawed" that it should be abandoned immediately. Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of Telegraph
25 March 2007
- NHS training
boss reported to GMC. The senior surgeon who has presided over the system
for appointing junior doctors has been reported to the General Medical Council
(GMC). Prof Alan Crockard, an eminent neurosurgeon, has been the national
director of the Department of Health's programme, Modernising Medical Careers
(MMC) and its online application service, the Medical Training and Application
Service (MTAS), since 2004. The Department of Health said that they had no
comment to make on the letter to the GMC regarding Prof Crockard. Senior
doctors at Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital have joined the calls for the MMC and
MTAS to be scrapped, saying that 40% of their "most talented" junior doctors
had been overlooked. Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of Telegraph
30 March 2007
- Angry GPs join
junior doctors in DoH rows. Doctors continued to vent their anger at the
government this week as relations between ministers and the British Medical
Association deteriorated further. On March 23, junior doctors' negotiators
pulled out of talks with the Department of Health over the failure of a new job
applications system. Three days later GPs announced they would hold a special
meeting in April to hear how frontline family doctors wish to respond to their
0% pay award. BMA GPs' leader Hamish Meldrum warned: 'We have already announced
that we are preparing a guidance paper on actions practices might consider
taking.' Junior doctors withdrew from the review group trying to resolve
failures in the Medical Training Application Service because the latest solution
- restricting doctors to one interview - was 'unacceptable'. The BMA said this
could disadvantage more than 11,000 doctors who had been offered more than one
interview. Junior doctors' leader Jo Hilborne said interviewing all applicants
or scrapping the system were the only acceptable solutions. Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of Public
Finance 30 March 2007
- Paediatricians accuse General Medical Council of putting children at
risk. More than 50 UK paediatricians today launch an unprecedented attack
on the General Medical Council, accusing their regulatory body of deterring
doctors from speaking out, and arguing that the stance could increase the risk
of child abuse. The doctors take issue with the GMC over its handling of the
cases of David Southall and Sir Roy Meadow, two senior paediatricians
disciplined in relation to the case of Sally Clark, the solicitor accused of
killing two of her three children, who was jailed and later cleared and freed
on appeal. Mrs Clark died two weeks ago. Her family said she had not recovered
from the miscarriage of justice. In an article in the American journal
Pediatrics, written before Mrs Clark's death, the paediatricians claim the GMC
does not understand child protection work. Sarah Boseley, health editor
Monday April 2, 2007 The Guardian
- Surgeons' fury over trainee fiasco. Patricia Hewitt's attempt to
find a solution to the junior doctors' training fiasco was at risk last night
after England's top surgeons threatened to pull out of negotiations. John
Carvel, social affairs editor
Wednesday April 4, 2007 The Guardian
- Job deal fails to placate junior doctors. Changes in the system
used for recruiting junior doctors are "still a bit of a disaster" and could
lead to more families being separated, ministers were warned today. A solution
to the long-running row over health service training posts was agreed by the
British Medical Association (BMA) and medical royal colleges last night,
guaranteeing all candidates for NHS specialist traineeships will get at least
one interview. Staff and agencies
Thursday April 5, 2007 Guardian Unlimited
- Junior doctors
'should get a second chance'. The president of the Royal College of
Surgeons, Dr Bernard Ribeiro, has proposed a "safety net" to catch qualified
doctors denied training posts by the confusion over the discredited Medical
Training Application Service (MTAS). Mr Ribeiro threatened to walk out of the
current review of the system unless steps were taken to ensure doctors stayed
in Britain. "The system has been found wanting," he said. "We have now
demonstrated that the way to select the consultants of the future is through
professional selection by interview. MTAS (the Medical Training Application
Service) has to be changed radically." He said that talks would begin next
week over how to establish "transitional posts" for those unfairly missed out
by the system. Part of the problem has been the extra doctors applying for the
training places caused by junior doctors from both the old and new system
competing with each other and creating a 'bulge'. Speaking for young surgeons,
Mr Ribeiro said: "I will know next week how many 'transitional training posts'
DH will need to fund to make adequate provision for this cohort of trainees to
ensure that the best applicants progress and that, in the future, patients can
be confident that they will receive the highest standards of surgical care."
Meanwhile 23 eminent doctors called for MTAS to be abandoned altogether. They
said: "We urge.... an immediate return to a regionally based selection system
led by the same expert doctors as will be responsible for the specialist
training". The review group yesterday finalised details of the compromise deal
that has promised all junior doctors one first choice traditional interview
which takes into account their experience and their CV. Lord Hunt, Health
Minister said: "I appreciate that this has been a very difficult time for
junior doctors. We all want a transparent and fair recruitment process that
allows us to recruit and train the best doctors for the benefit of patient
care".
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of Telegraph
5 April 2007
- Juniors brand
MTAS changes as 'unfair'. Planned changes to the Medical Training
Applications Service have been labelled as "unfair" by junior doctors. The
review group attempting to rectify the problems thrown up by the system have
decided that all interviews offered in the first round will be honoured and
applicants will be offered the highest ranked post they successfully applied
for. Those not originally short listed will be offered at least one interview
for their first choice of job. Just a fortnight ago the group had suggested
that all applicants would be considered only for their first choice,
regardless of how many posts they had been short listed for. The move has been
labelled discriminatory by many junior doctors. One SHO writing on the
Doctors.net.uk online forum said: "The review panel has already admitted that
the shortlisting process is next to useless. Those candidates with four
interviews are not necessarily any better than those who initially had no
interviews, meaning the system hands an unfair advantage to a certain group of
candidates." Pressure group Remedy UK called the new proposals 'unfair and
impractical'. The BMA's Junior Doctors' Committee (JDC) had initially
withdrawn from the review process in protest at the group's initial decisions
but returned for last week's discussion. JDC chairman Dr Jo Hilborne said: "We
believe the latest offering from the review group to be a practical way
forward, which does not waste the hard work of thousands of applicants
preparing for and attending interview." Dr Chris Russell, an F2 who was short
listed for three posts in the first round, said he was pleased all interviews
would now be honoured. But he added: "I am concerned that my performance may
have been affected because the uncertainty meant I had no idea whether the
interviews would count."
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of Hospital
Doctor 12 April 2007
- Health warning. A new application system threatens the future of
junior doctors and jobs are disappearing throughout the medical professions.
Emma Jayne Jones
Saturday April 14, 2007 The Guardian
- Hewitt apologises over medical training problems. The health
secretary, Patricia Hewitt, today apologised "unreservedly" to doctors for the
recent chaos over medical training and announced an independent review will be
established to take forward the government's policy. Ms Hewitt said the review
would "clarify and strengthen" the principles of the beleaguered Modernising
Medical Careers (MMC) programme and ensure that necessary changes were made in
the future. Press Association
Monday
April 16, 2007 SocietyGuardian.co.uk
- Jobless junior
doctors may be offered VSO work. A rescue package to find jobs for up to
10,000 junior doctors whose careers are in danger of being blighted by a
controversial NHS selection procedure includes plans to send some to do
voluntary service overseas, a leaked document revealed. It showed how NHS
Employers, the body representing hospital trusts, intends to give priority to
finding placements for British and EU graduates who are senior house officers
and already well on the way to becoming consultants. The NHS mishandled the
introduction of a computerised system to select the ablest candidates for
training as consultants. The British Medical Association estimated that 34,250
doctors applied for just 18,500 training posts in the UK. Sian Thomas, the
employers' deputy director, said the shortfall was only 10,000 and many of the
applicants were not British or EU graduates working in the NHS. She set out
plans to prioritise 500-1,300 high-grade domestic candidates. "We have
approached VSO to scope out the possibilities of placements of some doctors
overseas - voluntary service posts," she said. VSO cautioned that it was
looking for experienced senior house officers. Jo Hilborne, chairman of the
BMA junior doctors committee, said: "It is extremely worrying that NHS
managers are preparing for medical unemployment on such a large scale. The
government can no longer deny the seriousness of this crisis. The health
secretary must guarantee that no doctor will be denied a career in the NHS as
a result of poor workforce planning."
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of Guardian
21 April 2007
- Junior doctors
go overseas after applications disaster. The fiasco over the application
system for junior doctor's training is making highly qualified junior doctors
seek positions overseas in such countries as Australia and New Zealand. The
British Medical Association released a survey yesterday of 650 doctors showing
that over half would be likely to seek opportunities elsewhere if their
applications are not successful. Almost five per cent had already received
offers from other countries. "The NHS could lose thousands of its best young
doctors simply because of poor planning," said Dr Jo Hilbourne, who chairs the
BMA's juniors' committee. HCL, an agency that provides locum doctors, said it
had already placed 40 doctors overseas. "We currently have about 100 doctors
who are looking to move abroad and there is worldwide demand for healthcare
staff," said Kate Bleasdale, chief executive of HCL. Andrew Lansley, shadow
health secretary, said a strategic solution was needed. The Department of
Health said it was not unusual for doctors to work abroad, adding that the
interviews being conducted were "only training posts, and there are still jobs
in the NHS for junior doctors who do not get a training place".
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of Financial
Times 24 April 2007
- Junior doctors' personal details made public in website blunder. The
Department of Health has apologised after a security lapse on the junior doctors
recruitment website enabled confidential information on thousands of applicants,
including their sexual orientation and previous convictions, to be accessed by
the public yesterday. With the application process already beset by controversy,
the security breach on the site where junior doctors apply for postgraduate
medical training programmes is yet another blow to the scheme. Lee Glendinning
Thursday
April 26, 2007 The Guardian
- Hewitt faces
storm over website leaks. Patricia Hewitt faced protests as the row over
security breaches in an NHS website containing confidential information about
junior doctors deepened. The Department of Health was forced to suspend the
site, which handles job applications from junior doctors, after the second
security breach in 24 hours. The Health Secretary came under fire after it
emerged the junior doctors' leaders had warned her at the start of last month
that the site was not secure. Channel Four News reported that it had been able
to go on to the Medical Training Application Service site and look through
applications from thousands of doctors. It said people could access the
information without a password or log on. The revelations came a day after the
programme disclosed how it had gained access to lists containing personal
details on junior doctors, including their addresses, telephone numbers,
sexuality and religion. In a further twist, it also emerged that a security
breakdown in the NHS's new national computer system, Connecting for Health, led
to the names, addresses and mobile phone numbers of consultants and doctors who
attended a meeting on the issue earlier this year being placed on the internet.
Dr Jo Hilborne, the chairman of the BMA Junior Doctors' Committee, said: "What
little faith anyone had left in this system has evaporated. The ease with which
anyone could have accessed sensitive information about thousands of people is
shocking."
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of Telegraph
29 April 2007
- Junior doctors voice anger over reforms. A junior doctors' leader
today spoke out over the government's "shambolic" reform of medical training.
Candidates have been messed around by the flawed introduction of the Medical
Training Application Service (MTAS), according to Dr Jo Hilborne, head of the
British Medical Association's junior doctors committee. The government has
launched an investigation into how security lapses allowed highly personal
information about candidates to be seen online. The website has been suspended
as the Department of Health investigates fresh concerns that doctors could
access each others' information. Press Association
Saturday April 28, 2007 SocietyGuardian.co.uk
- Doctors call on
Hewitt to quit over training move. Junior doctors called for the
resignation of Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt over what they branded the
"shambolic" reform of medical training. The British Medical Association's
junior doctors' conference demanded a review into the waste of public money
delegates say was caused by the Modernising Medical Careers scheme.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of Independent
29 April 2007
- Doctors are
denied training so NHS can balance books. Training for nurses and doctors
is being sacrificed to enable the NHS to balance its books. Despite a pledge
by the Government that last year's raid on training funds would be a
"one-off", more than half of England's strategic health authorities have taken
money from dedicated training budgets for the new financial year. Training
places for new nurses and physiotherapists, and courses for qualified staff to
develop their skills will be reduced. There are also fears that nurse training
places may be lost. Fifteen hundred went when NHS training budgets were first
raided in 2005. Meanwhile, some doctors have to meet the cost of vital courses
themselves. The cuts come despite a promise by Lord Hunt, the health minister,
that last year's transfer of £340m from health authorities' training funds to
a contingency fund to help meet the NHS deficit would be a "one-off". David
Nicholson, the NHS chief executive, had also assured staff that training
budgets would be reduced "for one year only". But even though Patricia Hewitt,
the Health Secretary, claimed earlier this month that the NHS financial
problems were now "fixed", six of England's 10 strategic health authorities
have taken £136m from dedicated training budgets to store in "investment
reserves" that will be used to offset future debts. The Royal College of
Nursing accused the Government of taking a "chronic approach of boom and
bust".
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of Telegraph
29 April 2007
- MP quizzes
secretary over NHS web breach.
Portsmouth's Labour MP has challenged the health minister over 'dreadful'
security lapses on an NHS website. Sarah McCarthy-Fry went head-to-head with
Patricia Hewitt over breaches in the on-line job application website for
junior doctors. The Medical Training Application Service has been suspended
after personal details of junior doctors accidentally became accessible to the
public. Ms Hewitt - who has faced calls to resign over 'shambolic' medical
training reform - was forced to explain in the House of Commons what
precautions she had ordered. Ms McCarthy-Fry, MP for Portsmouth North, said:
'The website has been closed while investigations into this dreadful security
breach take place, quite rightly, but has not yet re-opened. I was concerned
that this delay could jeopardise junior doctors' training. I asked the Health
Secretary if she could give any clearer indication of when the website would
re-open.' The health minister assured MPs that it would take a while to fix
and she had brought in technical experts to help restore confidence in the
system.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of Portsmouth
News 8 May 2007
- Hospitals accused of plundering student budgets. Hospital trusts
appear to be raiding cash earmarked for medical education to help plug
deficits, doctors warned today. The British Medical Association (BMA) said
hospitals reported that money intended for education was being absorbed into
general budgets and the Department of Health has "very little idea" of how it
is being spent. Press Association
Friday
May 11, 2007 EducationGuardian.co.uk
- Recruitment
fiasco critics sent 'gagging order'. Critics of a discredited recruitment
system for junior doctors were issued with a "gagging order" warning them not
to speak out. Medical tutors who publicly protested against the project, which
could leave more than 10,000 young doctors unemployed, were told in an email
to stay silent if they could not "follow the party line". In a message from
the National Association of Clinical Tutors, tutors are told to "refrain from
passing on negative, anecdotal and unhelpful information". The comments
provoked anger and claims the instruction amounted to a gagging order sent on
behalf of the Health Department. It follows months of chaos over Modernising
Medical Careers, a reorganisation of doctor training.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of Telegraph
12 May 2007
- Doctors seek judicial review on job selection. Junior doctors will
this week take the health secretary, Patricia Hewitt, to court in a final
attempt to stop a job selection process she admits "has simply not worked".
Remedy UK, an organisation representing 10,000 young doctors, is seeking a
judicial review that would mean all training posts granted under the
discredited system would only last for a year, allowing for a fairer system to
be introduced in six months. Sarah Hall
Monday
May 14, 2007 The Guardian
- Hewitt abandons doctor applications system. The chaotic online
application system for junior doctors is to be abandoned after thousands of
well-qualified candidates were not offered interviews. MTAS (Medical Training
Application Service) - the system which health secretary Patricia Hewitt
admits "has simply not worked" - will be scrapped after the initial round of
recruitment ends on June 22. A replacement system will be handled by local
medical deaneries, who will recruit on the basis of CVs. Fred Attewill and
agencies
Tuesday May 15, 2007 Guardian Unlimited
Medical training in the UK - Patients will be in the vanguard, as
doctors disappear. A group of doctors from across the UK have expressed
fears that the careers of 10,000 junior doctors could be irreparably damaged
because of the disastrous mistakes in the Medical Training and Application
Service (MTAS), News Medical reports .
Care and Health 17 May 2007
Hewitt admits
defeat on doctors' job fiasco. The Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt has
been forced to jettison the controversial Medical Training Application Service
after growing chaos and security lapses. Miss Hewitt said that doctors
applying for the next round of the recruitment process will not have to use
the Department of Health's computer system and will instead resume writing and
submitting CVs to hospitals directly. The move comes as doctors' group Remedy
UK launches a legal battle seeking judicial review of the way applications
have been handled. The retreat also leaves Miss Hewitt's future in doubt amid
rumours that she may be one of the first casualties of any cabinet reshuffle.
In a written ministerial statement, Hewitt said: "Given the continuing
concerns of junior doctors about MTAS, the system will not be used for
matching candidates to training posts, but will continue to be used for
national monitoring." Dr Andrew Rowland, vice-chairman of the British Medical
Association's junior doctors committee, welcomed Miss Hewitt's climbdown, but
said the BMA did not support legal moves by Remedy UK to ensure that
interviews that have already taken place should be written off. "This would be
disastrous for doctors, for patients, and for the NHS," he argued.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of Telegraph
17 May 2007
Doctors' chief quits over training fiasco. BMA chairman forced out
by critics as pressure grows on Patricia Hewitt. Sarah Boseley, health editor
Monday
May 21, 2007 The Guardian
Junior doctors
lose court fight. Junior doctors have lost their High Court battle to
invalidate their NHS job application process. Pressure group Remedy UK had
challenged the legitimacy of a new computerised application system, calling
for medics to be re-interviewed for posts. The judge ruled against
invalidating the interviews already done but said medics were justified to
feel angry. Mr Justice Goldring said the premature introduction of the new
system has had disastrous consequences - and although the legal challenge has
failed many junior doctors have "an entirely justifiable sense of grievance".
He added individual medics might still have good grounds for appeal under
employment law.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of BBC
23 May 2007
Hewitt vows to learn lessons from junior doctors chaos. The health
secretary, Patricia Hewitt, promised extra posts for junior doctors today as
she tried to recover from the crisis over their training. Ms Hewitt told the
Commons that the government needed to "learn the lessons" from the
much-criticised Medical Training Application Service (MTAS). Press Association
Thursday May 24, 2007 SocietyGuardian.co.uk
Medical chief
'should quit over shambles'. Senior doctors will call for the resignation
of Sir Liam Donaldson, the Chief Medical Officer (CMO), over the "shambolic"
introduction of changes to junior doctor training. Patricia Hewitt, the Health
Secretary, has already apologised over security breaches and other flaws in
the online recruitment system called Medical Training Application Service
(MTAS). However, many doctors blame Sir Liam for wider concerns they have over
Modernising Medical Careers. A motion to be debated at the British Medical
Association's consultants' conference states: "This conference has no
confidence in a CMO that will not listen to the voice of his own profession
and calls for his immediate resignation." A spokesman for the BMA said: "I
would say it is likely that it will be passed. People are so angry about the
whole shambles. We have had the apology from the Secretary of State and there
has been a reorganisation of the MMC team, but there is a feeling that people
further up should fall." Prof Alan Crockard, who helped set up MMC, resigned.
In his resignation letter he said: "From my point of view this project has
lacked clear leadership from the top for a very long time."
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of Telegraph
5 June 2007
Patients 'at
risk' in hospital upheaval. Patients' lives will be put at risk as a
result of the new junior doctor training scheme. Chief executives at the
country's leading training hospitals have written to the health secretary
seeking assurances that chaos will not ensue when doctors start their new
positions on Aug 1. They say the NHS faces a potentially dangerous upheaval on
that day as hundreds of new teams of doctors take up their posts. The
continuity of care provided under the old recruitment system may disappear,
they added. Up to 20,000 new vacancies are to be filled on the same day but
due to the failure of the computerised selection system many doctors have yet
to be assigned posts. Under the previous recruitment system the appointment of
training posts for junior doctors was staggered throughout the year, with some
bunching in August. But now under the new system called Modernising Medical
Careers all the handovers take place on the same day. The Association of UK
University Hospitals claims it could lead to chaos and put lives at risk. The
computerised recruitment system has been all but abandoned and the NHS has
reverted to the old system to make appointments.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of Telegraph
9 June 2007
IT campaign in
Commons debate. The Government has come in for fierce criticism over its
rollout of electronic patient care records, the Choose and Book referral
system and the MTAS doctors' recruitment debacle. Norman Lamb, Liberal
Democrat health spokesman, told the House there were major concerns over the
confidentiality of the electronic care record, quoting from Pulse's story of a
split among GPs in
Bolton, where the scheme is being piloted. Attacking the implied consent
model being used by Connecting for Health for the rollout, he said: 'I am
seriously concerned because we are dealing with elderly and vulnerable people,
as well as people with learning diffi |