| Wrong kind of Misconduct |
| Thursday, 01 January 2009 | |
Wrong kind of Misconduct – GMC evades MTAS Enquiry.In October this year Remedy wrote to the GMC, on behalf of 1600 supporters, calling for an investigation into the disasters of MTAS and Specialty Selection and Recruitment (SSR) and the role of the senior doctors responsible for it.The GMC have refused even to refer the matter to a case examiner for further investigation. Their justification for this boils down to their feeling that the alleged misconduct is not relevant to the fitness to practice of these doctors, and that allegations of deficient performance must be concerned with performance in a clinical setting. Our analogy with the Roylance case was rejected, since it was related to a clinical setting. In fact the entire thrust of the GMC “Management for Doctors” guidance does not apply, they say, since it only applies to managers connected with the provision of medical services to patients. We dispute this. In the judgement in the Meadows case it was stated that "Serious professional misconduct" .... may include not only misconduct by a doctor in his clinical practice, but misconduct in the exercise, or professed exercise, of his medical calling in other contexts…”. And we can think of many instances where people have been “GMC’d” for conduct outside a strictly clinical context. Remedy believes that the GMC rejection on such shaky grounds is at best absurd and at worst unfairly protective of an unimpeachable elite. We have discussed this with our barristers and legal team, and will be meeting with them in the New Year to discuss our options, including seeking judicial review of this decision. A fuller statement is on our website. Click here. The All-New Remedy JobsiteAfter the great success of the Remedy Jobsite in last year’s fragmented recruitment we set our tech team the task of redesigning and improving what a lot of you thought was the simplest and best medical jobsite in the biz. It’s fast becoming the No.1 central job resource for UK docs. The idea is that it takes the minimum effort to capture the most exhaustive selection of jobs relevant to you. As long as deaneries apply the ridiculously short turnaround times for applications all medical jobsites will need to up their game - we think we’re getting there. Try it out here...Genius: Trainees fund trainingHow much does it cost to train? Have the costs of training gone up? How much are people spending on exams, compulsory registrations with Colleges, websites and all that jazz? Are Trusts and Deaneries paying study leave as they should, or is the money being snaffled en route...Please take 5 minutes of your time to fill out a short survey. We’re sure it’s not just us that thinks that this is a big issue, but we need some facts to start tackling it. That’s where you come in: Click here. Whose Failure is it anyway?Remedy have had a series of meetings this year with other groups to discuss the issue of no-fault failure of competencies. This is when a trainee fails to achieve competencies through no fault of their own.This can happen if the advertised and promised clinical exposure does not occur. A trainee surgeon may not be able to get into theatre because he is bogged down with writing TTO’s – necessary work but no help to him in furthering his training. We have heard many tales of woe from doctors affected by this, especially those working in surgery and anaesthesia. A recent Department of Health circular reveals “The introduction of run-through training in 2007 highlighted the fact that large numbers of core training posts/programmes exist primarily to support service delivery rather than to train the specialists needed in the future.”. We would like to see the term ‘extra-curricular service’ used to describe the situation where service needs outweigh training requirements. This was one of the prime targets that MMC was supposed to have addressed. Another approach that we would like to see is the development of a new ARCP outcome – that of no-fault failure. It would cover the situations we describe, and would help measure the scale of the problem. We would like to see changes made to the Gold Guide so that this outcome can be given. In the meantime we would urge doctors in training who have not gained the appropriate competencies to acknowledge the fact. We would not encourage any falsification of what is really happening. R-UK MagazineThe latest issue of the Remedy Magazine R-UK should have been delivered last week. It features content by Phill Hammond, Dr Grumble and Michael O’Donnell, as well as the Xmas Stockings of College Presidents and MPs. R-UK is also available onlineherenhsUnlocked - best-odds iPhone competition ever(sponsored link)Rate-a-doc mania is sweeping the nation as NHS Choices copies iwantgreatcare - allowing the rating of individual doctors - hooray for progress! It must leave a warm feeling inside the heart of anyone battling through a New Years Eve A+E night shift. nhsUnlocked.org is a project that puts doctors and patients on the same side, rating how good a department is to work in as well as be treated in. A badly run department affects doctors, nurses and patients, so why beat up on those poor individuals working within them? Instead we should pool together information about trusts from both sides of the fence. Isn’t it about time we knew where the great places to train are or which HR departments bleed you for every last drop of service commitment? Patterns begin to emerge very quickly - you’ll soon be able to really get the measure of a department before you consider working there. Register and rate 3 hospitals or more you have worked in and you’ll get entered in an iphone + year contract draw. It’s a small population meaning that there is actually a chance of winning. Join RemedyRemedy relies on members for income and support. If you are not presently a paid-up subscriber then please consider joining us. Full details are on our website.Wish best wishes for 2009 from all of us The Remedy Team. |