A proper apology?
Or not?
Apparently this happened today in parliament:
In a Commons statement today, Ms Hewitt said the review group set up to examine the problems concluded they related mainly to implementation and not the underlying principles of MMC.
As has repeatedly been said, not really.
Recruitment to GP training programmes - which generally had not given rise to problems - would continue as planned. NHS job offers for specialist training would start to be made in early June.
Ms Hewitt acknowledged: “This has been a time of great distress for junior doctors and their families and I apologise unreservedly to them for the anxiety that has been caused.
“I believe that we now have the right way forward for this year’s recruitment to general practice and speciality training and that applicants can be confident that they will be treated fairly.”
Is she taking solace from the fact that there has been no further large scale action? She has been told that April 24 is the next scheduled protest with a mass lobby of Parliament, right?
Ms Hewitt said the review group was established to deal with this year’s recruitment processes, but the programme was now two years old.
“The time is now right to undertake a wider review to clarify and strengthen the principles underlying MMC and to ensure that where necessary we make further changes for future years,” she added.
“All involved must be confident that the pursuit of excellence remains at the heart of the system. I am therefore establishing a second independent review to consider these and other broader issues.”
As has been said before, “independent” carries some very specific connotations that have not been satisfied by the present review.
She insisted the government now had “the right way forward” and that applicants could be “confident that they will be treated fairly”.
The shadow health secretary, Andrew Lansley, said Ms Hewitt had been forced to “eat three helpings of humble pie over the issue”.
From the BBC:
Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt - who has already apologised for the problems this year - said this latest review was intended to enable the NHS to “apply the lessons we have learned to a wider context”.
“Engagement from the profession is very important.
“There is a broad consensus on the essential principles of Modernising Medical Careers but this consensus must be translated into benefits that are tangible to the trainees themselves.”
Dr Jo Hilborne, chairman of the BMA Junior Doctors Committee, said: “The government’s handling of training reforms has been appalling.
“The BMA has been warning for years that Modernising Medical Careers was being rushed in too quickly, to the detriment of patient care.
“It’s depressing that it’s taken a disaster on this scale for them to listen.”
She added: “We hope that doctors will be able to engage fully with this review, and welcome the fact that it is to be independent.
“However, we need more than this - we need urgent action now.
“We need solutions that ensure that no doctor in training loses out on a career as a result of government mistakes or poor workforce planning.”
In a Commons debate on the issue, Liberal Democrat spokesman Norman Lamb said the “debacle” of MTAS could have been avoided with “proper piloting” and “consultation” with health professionals.
And independent MP Dr Richard Taylor said the grassroots feeling among senior consultants was that the national selection process had failed and MTAS should be scrapped.
The review will be chaired by Sir John Tooke, Dean of the Peninsula Medical School, Chair of the Council of Heads of Medical Schools and Chair of the UK Health Education Advisory Committee. Membership of the panel is still to be confirmed.
Anyone have an opinion on Sir John Tooke?
Hansard quotes are here.
The full exchange is posted here. Please post your comments in response to any of the statements.