Doctor Recruiting System ‘Flawed’

A judge yesterday described the new online doctors’ recruitment scheme as a flawed system with disastrous consequences.

Remedy UK, a junior doctors’ group, lost their High Court attempt to have changes to the controversial Medical Training Application Service (MTAS) declared unlawful.

However Mr Justice Goldring said the fact the campaigners had failed “does not mean that many junior doctors do not have an entirely justifiable sense of grievance”.

“The premature introduction of MTAS has had disastrous consequences. It was a flawed system in the ways I have indicated,” he added.

Last night, Patricia Hewitt, the Health Secretary, survived a Tory attempt to have her sacked over her “serial failures” in the health service.

A Conservative motion to slash her salary by £1,000 – the traditional way of signalling no confidence in a minister – was rejected by 282 votes to 219, majority 63.

About 30,000 junior doctors were left chasing some 23,000 posts because of a re-organisation of medical training.

Those involved in recruitment complained the scheme did not allow them to distinguish between candidates of different merits, and many with the highest academic and medical credentials were refused interviews.

Last week, Miss Hewitt was forced into a U-turn over the system, promising it would not be used in second round job interviews.

The website was closed down last month after a series of security breaches allowed people to access confidential details about applicants.

Changes introduced by a review body mean offers of training places will be made to 16,000 selected for interview through the online system and that a further 7,000 places will be distributed after second round interviews conducted along traditional lines.

Remedy UK argued the changes were made without proper consultation, were unfair and amounted to an abuse of power.

Mr Justice Goldring said: “Although far from ideal, it does seem to me the decision of the review group was within the range of reasonable responses to the very difficult situation it faced.”

Remedy UK said in a statement: “This is a sad day for doctors and the NHS.”

Lord Hunt, a health minister, said: “We feel strongly that the process of making job offers should go ahead in the interests of both doctors and patients.”

Miss Hewitt said she was studying the judgment and would make a Commons statement today.

Andrew Lansley, the shadow health secretary, said: “If we can’t have a new Government, at least there must be a new Secretary of State.”