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Doctors pressure group RemedyUK today condemns the Government’s response to the independent inquiry into MMC, led by Sir John Tooke.
The independent inquiry team made 47 recommendations in a final report, entitled ‘Aspiring for Excellence’ published in January 2008. The report has received overwhelming and unanimous backing from doctor representative groups, Royal Colleges and the profession as a whole. The Secretary of State for Health, Alan Johnston, published his detailed response to the inquiry this morning. Of the 47 recommendations, less than one quarter have been accepted unconditionally, with another 25% being accepted ‘in principle’. A further 25% have been subsumed into the Next Stage Review, led by Lord Darzi of Denham. This government is trying to wriggle out of recommendations made by an independent inquiry said Matt Jameson Evans of RemedyUK To ‘agree in principle’ is not acceptable, nor is subsuming a quarter of the recommendations into the Darzi review. Lord Darzi is a government minister and his panel operates under government direction. Sir John Tooke and his team were truly independent and have gained the confidence and respect of the profession while trust in the government is at an all time low. A pool of up to 12,000 experienced doctors, caught between the old and the new training systems, face limited careers prospects in the UK. Termed in the report the ‘transition bulge’, the Secretary of State details up to 300 posts that will be made available for these doctors. To attempt to spin government inaction in this area is insulting in the extreme. To offer posts to as little as 3% of these doctors is offensive. This is not a ’transition bulge’ it is the lives of junior doctors with families to support and dreams to fulfill. said Chris McCullough of RemedyUK These are our friends and colleagues who are being offered little chance of pursuing their lifetime dream. These doctors should not be forced to pay the price of failed Government reforms. The Secretary of State for Health has failed to provide any hope for the profession. These doctors will not work in dead-end jobs with no hope of a career. Unless this is addressed now, we will lose a great deal of talent, and ultimately patient care will suffer. RemedyUK have received reports of hospitals across the UK struggling to provide a basic level of medical cover in some specialties. The problem has been created by the rushed recruitment changes of 2007 and a move to one recruitment point per year. In some teams there are vacancy rates of 50%. RemedyUK highlighted this as a potential problem months ago. While the Secretary of State for Health plays politics with the Tooke Report, hospitals on the ground are struggling to staff rotas and thousands of doctors are demoralized with no hope of training in the NHS. Says Chris McCullough of RemedyUK. It is a perverse situation and is indicative of the lack of insight and respect this government holds for the profession. The response from Alan Johnson is wholly inadequate. It is the equivalent of trying to put out an industrial fire with a water pistol. We urge every doctor to sign up to our Mass Lobby of Parliament on March 18th to tell the government that enough is enough. If you don’t value us you will lose us, and without us, there can be no NHS. It is time for doctors to reclaim our profession. |
