BMA Advises Junior Doctors On Their Rights As 18,000 Face Disappointment, UK

Main Category: Public Health
Also Included In: Medical Students / Training
Article Date: 20 Jun 2007 - 1:00 PDT

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Around 18,000 UK junior doctors will be disappointed this Friday when the first round of their flawed new application system closes.* The BMA yesterday called for a more robust complaints and appeals process, and was advising its junior doctor members on their legal rights.

An estimated 12,000 UK applicants will not be offered a training post at all, even after the second round of applications. The BMA is calling for a complete overhaul of the existing complaints procedure - which does not allow doctors to register complaints until November, after both rounds have finished. It has also been advised that a small number of applicants may have a legal case, and has published guidance to members on their legal rights.

Dr Jo Hilborne, chairman of the BMA Junior Doctors Committee, says:

"Junior doctors remain in the dark about their futures. They do not know what will happen to them on 31 July, and they do not know what opportunities they will have if their job applications are unsuccessful. At the very least they must have the right to complain about their treatment, and the opportunity to seek redress."

Many of the doctors who have had problems with the system are those with an interest in research and teaching. The BMA's Medical Academic Staff Committee has met with the government to address their concerns.

Professor Michael Rees, chairman of the BMA Medical Academic Staff Committee, says:

"This whole application process has failed to take into account the needs of academic doctors. It messed up academic applications and discriminated against doctors with academic qualifications by providing too few posts for them and virtually excluding academic criteria in the application process.

"This will badly affect clinical research in the NHS. We have raised these concerns with the government, because these doctors represent the future of medical teaching and research in the UK. It is crucial to the NHS that they are not lost to the system."

Dr Jonathan Fielden, chairman of the BMA Consultants Committee, says:

"The MTAS debacle shows what happens when the advice of frontline professionals goes ignored. The BMA has produced and pressed for practical solutions that are in the interests of junior doctors and their patients. We must now ensure that all those treated unfairly by this process are given opportunities to use their talents for patient care."

Dr Hamish Meldrum, chairman of the BMA's GPs Committee says:

"Although GPs in training have thankfully been relatively spared the worst aspects of this shambles, we must ensure that everything possible is done to see that our junior colleagues are fully supported in appealing this flawed system and are provided with proper training jobs."

This Friday is the latest date that junior doctors applying for training posts in England will find out if they have been successful. In Scotland, the application process closed on the 10th of June and offers not taken up in the first round are currently being recycled.

British Medical Association

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