Medical Training Application Service - Repercussions

Repercussions

The British Medical Association (the largest trade union body representing doctors) pulled out of the review panel after their announcement that each doctor would only be given one interview. Organisations like the Royal College of Surgeons stated that they had lost confidence in the system.

The BMA later rejoined the review and have since lent their support to the proposed changes ("Round 1B"). However, following an outcry by members and a controversial letter to The Times newspaper, Mr James Johnson, Chairman of the BMA resigned on 20 May 2007, citing his reasons for leaving as the contents of the letter.

On 30 March 2007 Professor Alan Crockard resigned as National Director of Modernising Medical Careers. In his resignation letter he stated that he has "responsibility but less and less authority" and that "the overriding message coming back from the profession is that it has lost confidence in the current recruitment system".

On 3 April 2007, during an interview on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, the Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt apologised to junior doctors over the crisis, saying that the application scheme had caused "needless anxiety and distress". The British Medical Association welcomed the government's acknowledgement of the problem but stated that "an apology isn't enough". Patricia Hewitt's apology was repeated to parliament on 16 April 2007, however she stated that, "the problems that have arisen relate in the main to the implementation process and not to the underlying principles of Modernising Medical Careers." Later that month Ms Hewitt was accused by the opposition of failing to express genuine regret over the fiasco.

The MTAS website was suspended on 26 April 2007 after a Channel 4 News report stated that applicants had been able to see each other's files by changing two digits in the personalised web address given to each individual. At that point the Department of Health announced that this was a temporary suspension.

Ms Hewitt made another apology on 1 May 2007 in the House of Commons after the suspension of the MTAS website due to security breaches that she described as "utterly deplorable". On 3 May, Hewitt appeared on BBC Question Time where she faced hostile questioning from a junior doctor over MTAS failures.

On 15 May 2007 MTAS was shelved by ministers due to security breaches. Patricia Hewitt said that after the first round of recruitment, the system would only fulfil a monitoring role.

A judicial review of MTAS was successfully called for by pressure group Remedy UK, who demanded that the appointments process should be scrapped altogether. The case was heard in the High Court from 16–17 May 2007, where the BMA sided with the government despite an overwhelming majority of their own membership opposing MTAS. On Wednesday 23 May 2007 Mr Justice Goldring ruled against Remedy UK, stating that "although far from ideal", the Review Group's decision on amending the appointments process after the first round of interviews was "within the range of reasonable responses", and that the Review Group was "entitled to reach the decision it did given the circumstances facing it at the time". Although he ruled against invalidating the interviews that had already taken place, Mr Justice Goldring added that this judgement did not imply that junior doctors were not entitled to feel aggrieved, as "the premature introduction of MTAS has had disastrous consequences". Remedy UK have said they will not appeal the verdict, in order to avoid further uncertainty for junior doctors.

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