January 8, 2008

medical researchers react to Tooke Report on MTAS

Sir John Took’s report made recommendations in the aftermath of the crisis afflicting the Medical Training Application Service (MTAS), the new computerised system for recruiting junior doctors and allocating jobs within the NHS.

Morris Brown, Professor of Clinical Pharmacology, Addenbrookes Centre for Clinical Investigation, University of Cambridge, and Chair of the Fidelio group set up to campaign against the new arrangements, said:

“Like more than 90% of doctors, my campaign group Fidelio of leaders in medicine are in complete agreement with Sir John’s recommendations. His findings are a truly damning indictment of the evangelical ramblings and chaotic incompetence which caused last year’s disaster. The report is a well-researched piece of clinical dissection by real doctors, who started with no pre-conceived opinions and consulted massively. The report is in marked contrast with the assertions and dogma – ‘unfinished business’, ‘lost tribe’ – which the desk doctors in the Department of Health substituted for argument and scientific validation of their ideologies. The only Achilles heal of the report may be that, in order to stay nobly above the fray of naming the guilty, the latter are left in charge, more concerned with saving face than saving the careers of thousands and the future of a world-class NHS. Anything short of rapid and complete acceptance of the report would be an insult to the victims of the MTAS disaster – the new Lost Tribe, about whose creation the Department remain in self-denial. We in the medical profession who slumbered into the training disaster of 2007 need to stay awake and united in trumpeting Sir John’s message: that competent doctors are not good enough. UK medicine has a tradition of excellence – the public and the world expect no less.”

Professor Sir John Bell, President of the Academy of Medical Sciences, said:

“We must ensure our young doctors-in-training receive medical education that promotes and values excellence at all levels. A clear and concise training pathway is fundamental for academic medicine to flourish and deliver healthcare innovation. It is vital that the medical profession, Government and other key constituents take ownership of the Tooke recommendations and ensure these changes are
implemented.

“The Academy supports the establishment of NHS: Medical Education England (NHS:MEE); an arms length coordinating body able to act as an ‘honest broker’. This presents a fresh opportunity for all the key players to re-engage with the challenges so clearly identified in the Tooke Report and agree a coherent, coordinated approach to medical training.”