Time to unite and move forward, say BMA leaders
Monday 21 May 2007
Dear colleague
As the elected leaders of the medical profession within the BMA, we have been and remain determined to represent and lead doctors through the considerable difficulties and pressures facing us. It is vital that we show how a united and determined profession can and should take the lead in resolving the shocking mess which is this government’s health care policy.
In particular, it is crucial that we continue to find practical solutions to the debacle of MTAS. The overriding aim of this task must be to ensure that junior doctors' careers and lives are not damaged any further; to protect them and patients, now and for the future.
We have already secured the independent review of MMC and the MTAS process. We can not and will not stop there. There is much to do to rebuild professional and patient confidence in the training of our doctors.
We demand that the government now deliver:
- A guarantee that no junior doctor will be unemployed as a result of MTAS
- Substantial resources to ensure that junior doctors who have not been successful in securing a training post for August 1st are not disadvantaged
- A robust, fair and transparent CV-based process for round 2
- Increased flexibility in the early years of training
- A lifeline for doctors who don’t get into training posts
- A new group, led by doctors, to design the future of medical training
Sam Everington, Deputy Chairman of BMA
Jo Hilborne, Chairman of Junior Doctors Committee
Jonathan Fielden, Chairman of Central Consultants and Specialists Committee
Hamish Meldrum, Chairman of General Practitioners Committee
Emily Rigby, Chair of Medical Students Committee
Mohib Khan, Chairman of Staff and Associate Specialists Committee
Michael Rees, Chairman of Medical Academic Staff Committee
Chris Spencer-Jones, Chairman of Committee for Public Health Medicine and Community Health