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