MTAS and its corruptible nature

The Medical Training Application Service (MTAS) was brought in with MMC to make the selection process fairer and more meritocratic. The centralised scheme was designed to make applying for a job easy and straightforward. If only things were that way.I will be careful with my words. Firstly the application system is fundamentally flawed by allocating such a high percentage of marks to the short

Crony state of affairs

Last night on Channel 4 'Dispatches', government health policy was comprehensively analysed and blown to smithereens. Liam Halligan did an absolutely fantastic job in presenting such a well researched piece of journalism. He put the BBC to shame given their pathetic attempts at commenting on health policy in recent years, where ministers are given notoriously easy rides and tricky areas are

The shambolic disgrace of MTAS

This year has been the first year that all junior doctors have been blessed with the opportunity to apply for their specialist training posts via MTAS (Medical Training Application Service). I use the word 'blessed' to intimate how those in power see things working.Junior doctors do not see things like this. The application process has been a disorganised shambles. From the very start there

NHS getting better! more marvels of the internal market

I just had to come out and say what a revolution to patient care the old 'internal market' is. There's more evidence of the successes of payment by results here in the paper:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=BJYNJTWMJ5EBDQFIQMGSFFWAVCBQWIV0?xml=/news/2007/02/25/nhs25.xmlThe logic is truly poetic. Operations are being postponed around the country because there is no enough

Dubious flawed and corrupt.............D'oh

Another night shift passes by, my eyes hurt and my breath smells of general unpleasantness. A topic of great controversy in medicine today is that of extending the roles of other non-medical so-called healthcare practitioners.Trends seem to pass over the Atlantic almost seamlessly at times, and there appears to be little correlation between policy migration and policy quality. For one the UK has

Comical 'Blair', private equity and patient 'safety'....

Could Tony Blair be copying the tactics of the mighty comical Ali?http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2020424,00.htmlAn excellent piece on those lovely fellows who work in the world of private equity, selflessly making the economy a better place for us all in the long term.http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2019475,00.htmlA highly respected diplomat tells us what he

CFISSA - media blackout

CFISSA- This stands for centrally funded government health initiatives and is a very hush-hush topic in the press. It shouldn't be.This is because last year 2005-6, CFISSA was over 6 Billion pounds over budget out of a total budget of less than fifteen billion pounds.Given that operations and investigations are being cancelled thanks to an NHS deficit of less than 1 billion pounds, it makes one

Point by point - then off on a tangent

I wish to address points one by one and I will directly quote from "Learning from tragedy, keeping patients safe" the government's recent report. (http://www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/14/32/49/04143249.pdf)1. Why are doctors being singled out in this when there are ample examples of nurses murdering patients? There has also been the extension of full prescribing rights to nurse practitioners and

Trust me I'm a politician

Today is indeed a dark day for the medical profession. The current administration continues its attempts to grab as much power as possible, while apologists in the media look on in a rather accepting manner. I am not pretending the old system was perfect, but change for the sake of political power grabbing is not in the interests of patients or doctors, it is in the interests of politicians and

PAs:good value or expensive waste?

Have a peek at these questions that may have been sent to the Department of Health. It was in response to some replies that they supplied on the topic of 'Physicians Assistants'.Given that we will have a surplus of several thousand unemployed highly skilled and highly trained junior doctors come this August (thanks to the shambolic work force planning of this administration) Is it really sensible

The CMO's report

Last year Sir Liam Donaldson produced his review of medical regulation (http://www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/13/72/78/04137278.pdf). To say that there are several flaws in his report would be an understatement and there there has been a significant backlash of opinion from many experts, since the report was released.An article was written in the BMJ which had several rapid responses published here:

Faustus has lost his soul

After a rather frantic night shift, I returned home to relax, thought I may catch Match of the Day; unfortunately on BBC 1 I have the great misfortune to see a certain Prime Minister, yes, that man, Tony Blair.I've always tried to remain calm, whatever the circumstances, whatever the provocation, but sometimes one has to let one's top blow and vent that steam! Tony Blair drives me to blowing my

BBC spreading muck again

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6367795.stmThis presents a study where it was found that, shock horror, there are lots of bugs in the workplace. What a surprise, I thought the world was completely sterile and that there was no such things as evil little grimey scummy filthy murderous bugs. It's yet another in a long line of lame bits of journalism that points out there are indeed bacteria in

Looney tunes

In the crazy world otherwise known as the NHS, routine surgery is now being frozen to save money! This is not the first time this has happened either.http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23385381-details/Three-month+freeze+on+routine+surgery/article.doThis is no isolated incident; this is common practice around the country and it gets worse. It has also become routine for surgeons who

BBC 'didn't spin'..........my beard grows longer

The BBC replied to my complaint:" Many thanks for your message, and interest in the site.I am sorry that you were upset by this story.The research was published in a respected peer-reviewed journal,published by the British Medical Journal group, and as such I feel it isvalid to bring this to the public's attention.I think the point about treating older patients differently for validreasons is

Example of this media campaign

The BBC does not disappoint! This article is absolutely scandalous for a number of reasons. The headline is 'Doctors 'deny elderly treatments' , but the article is merely saying that doctors treat elderly patients differently to younger patients.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6357627.stmWhat's so wrong with that? If this so called journalist actually had any knowledge of medicine then he may

why is the media dumbing down?

Maybe you don't think it is, however I will try to convince you that there is a definite trend in this direction.The trend has been over many years, a critical point was undoubtedly Murdoch taking on and beating the unions with help from his buddy Margaret Thatcher.http://www.goacom.org/overseas-digest/Media/murdoch.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wapping_disputehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

Cover up- you decide?

It's easy to get carried away with one's own paranoid ideas, especially when the rant gets into full motion. I apologise for trying to put my own ideas in your heads, the facts and evidence should do the talking.The D'OH (Department of Health) was emailed as regards MMC the other day, not really expecting to get much out of them, just a small amount of hot gas wafted back in my general

Deputy CMO responds

On the channel 4 news the other day Victoria McDonald did a piece on MMC (modernising medical careers), MMC being a scheme that is being rushed through by the current government. The news piece presented a very balanced view of the story and amply demonstrated several flaws in the policy.In many junior doctors' opinion the new system is flawed in principle, is being rushed through in a chaotic

Piss poor

For anyone out there who thinks doctors are overpaid fat cats who selfishly exploit the NHS to gold-plate their BMWs- think again!As a junior I know what it is really like and unfortunately our voice is rarely heard in the media.After a several years training we start on a decent, although not magnificent salary, and attempt to start paying off our hefty student debts.In the old days there was a

bad science

As a science graduate I am arrogant or educated enough to notice when science is being overtly abused in the name of profit.This website brilliantly exposes certain individuals who like to pretend they are slightly more knowledgeable than they actually are, mentioning no names of course:http://www.badscience.net/?p=362Far be it from me to claim to know more about nutrition than certain experts,

First entry

I aim to point out where others fail to see the wood from the trees, where those who govern us speak utter tripe and any other stuff I particularly fancy ranting about.I am sure very few people will read my blog, and incidentally I am not a ferret fancier, I just couldn't find any other blog names that were free! or maybe I am a ferret fancier and it was a freudian slip of sorts, you will have to