DH ditch junior doctor selection website

The health secretary has announced that the Medical Training Application System, the computerised system used to recruit junior doctors, has been ditched.

The website www.mtas.nhs.uk which was used as the basis for junior doctors to apply for and track their application progress will now only fulfil a monitoring role.

Junior doctors will now have to apply directly to hospitals for jobs, but ministers are committed to seeing through the first round of the recruitment process.

The move follows months of criticism for the new process under the Department of Health’s Modernising Medical Careers system.

In March, the British Medical Association told EHI that the system had descended into pandemonium after being blighted by technical problems, causing data loss and glitches to filing applications and resulting in two extensions to the original application deadline.

A letter was sent to the Department of Health by the BMA stating: “This system has been inconsistent and problematic throughout the entire process. As this is now annual recruitment with the future of over 30,000 doctors at stake, the BMA requires strong assurance as to the probity and stability of the MTAS system. With rotations due to begin at the start of August it is vital that the system is seen to be fair and just, with the best doctors being appointed in the interest of patient care and the future of the consultant-led NHS.”

The DH announced a week later that they would be ordering a review into the service http://www.e-health-insider.com/news/item.cfm?ID=2527.

A day later, following threats of boycotting the system from consultants, the review team which announced a series of changes to the system for allocating specialist training posts, which include allowing applicants to provide CVs and portfolios to support their applications.

Last month, Hewitt apologised for the disruption but this was followed by the revelation that candidate’s personal details were openly displayed on the site. The leak is now the subject of an Information Commissioner’s office investigation.

Hewitt announced today: “Given the continuing concerns of junior doctors about MTAS, the system will not be used for matching candidates to training posts, but will continue to be used for national monitoring.”

The BMA said it welcomed the abandonment of MTAS. Dr Andrew Rowland, vice chairman of the BMA Junior Doctors Committee, said: “The Department of Health has at last seen sense and effectively abandoned the unfair, discredited, and shambolic MTAS system. Junior doctors have suffered blow after blow because of the government’s terrible handling of these reforms. They have had to go through months of anxiety about their NHS careers, and on top of that, have potentially had their personal details exposed on the MTAS website. We are extremely concerned that the Health Secretary believes criminal offences may have been committed as a result of security breaches.”

He added: “The Health Secretary is wrong to say that there are 23,000 training posts available in the UK. Thirty-four thousand doctors have applied for around 18,500 posts – which is 4,500 fewer jobs than she claims. Competition is intense and as a matter of urgency, the government needs to guarantee that no doctor will be forced out of training as a result of workforce planning failures.”

Links

Hewitt apologises for junior doctor recruitment crisis

http://www.ehiprimarycare.com/news/item.cfm?ID=2644

http://www.e-health-insider.com/news/item.cfm?ID=2677