Warnings of junior doctor 'chaos'

Wednesday, 1 August 2007 12:00 AM

The Conservatives have used the arrival of thousands of new junior doctors in the health service to reignite the row over recruitment.

Shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley said patient care would suffer and highlighted the discrepancy of hospitals warning of chaos as thousands of doctors take up new posts at once, while other posts remain unfilled.

Mr Lansley argued junior doctors are the lynchpin of NHS care, but at present thousands are without jobs, others have gone overseas while some have simply quit the profession.

"Gordon Brown said Labour would make the NHS a priority. They haven't," he said.

Mr Lansley continued: "Not once has Alan Johnson addressed the doctor training problem in parliament and now patient care is set to suffer.

"I warned the government about potential problems facing junior doctors and patients in December 2005, but they failed to create the extra training posts required or a fair and equitable application process."

The Medical Training Application Service - the new online system to recruit junior doctors to specialist training posts - has been beset with criticisms and security lapses.

Today the British Medical Association (BMA) highlighted another concern, with 30,000 junior doctors taking up posts on the same day.

Previously posts were staggered throughout the year but this has been changed as a result of Modernising Medical Careers (MMC), which reformed the way doctors applied for training posts.

Concerns have been raised that the influx of new doctors could create chaos across hospitals, including cancelled operations and clinics.

"Posts have been left unfilled up to the eleventh hour. Consultants don't know who's going to be on their team, how skilled they'll be, or how much training they'll need," said Dr Ian Wilson, deputy chairman of the BMA consultants committee.

The BMA also warned some junior doctors had not been told their working hours, arrival time or were moved to a new hospital at short notice.

Moreover, 1,000 posts remain unfilled while the BMA reports a sharp increase in the number of unemployed junior doctors seeking advice.

Dr Tom Dolphin, deputy chairman of the BMA junior doctors committee, said the recruitment process under MMC "has been an unmitigated disaster".

He added: "Any forward planning has been impossible. It's inevitable that more operations and clinics will have to be postponed."

The deputy chief medical officer Professor Martin Marshall has moved to dispel concerns that operations and clinics will be compromised by the new timings.

He explained August is "always a quiet month" with fewer outpatient appointments and operations, making it practical to introduce new junior doctors at this time of year.

"The numbers involved will be higher this time, but NHS trusts are used to dealing with this issue and have plans in place to make sure services run properly during August," he said.

Professor Marshall added: "High-quality and safe patient care is the top priority for any clinician, whether new or experienced, and I know that doctors, nurses and managers throughout the NHS will be working hard, as they always do, to maintain the high standards that patients expect."

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