The government responded to a report by a committee of MPs on the new system for administering the recruitment of junior doctors. It said that it was crucial for the government to learn lessons from the problems of 2007, rebuild its relationship with the medical profession at all levels, and design the best possible structure and systems for training and recruiting National Health Service doctors in future.
Source: The Government Response to the Health Select Committee Report 'Modernising Medical Careers', Cm 7338, Department of Health, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Response | MPs report
Date: 2008-Jul
Plans were published for implementing regular performance checks on doctors in England. Family doctors, hospital consultants, and private practitioners would undergo annual appraisals, and would have to apply to renew their licences to practice every five years.
Source: Medical Revalidation: Principles and Next Steps – The report of the Chief Medical Officer for England's Working Group, Department of Health (08701 555455)
Links: Report | DH press release | BMA press release | AOMRC press release | Patients Association press release | NHS Employers press release | Liberal Democrats press release | BBC report | Guardian report | Telegraph report | Personnel Today report
Date: 2008-Jul
A report by a committee of MPs examined the handling of the junior doctor recruitment crisis in 2007. It said there had been inappropriate governance, management, and communication by the Department of Health; and that the Chief Medical Officer had failed to take responsibility despite being the architect of the reforms. The medical profession was criticized for not working in a co-ordinated and unified fashion to help rectify the problems.
Source: Modernising Medical Careers, Third Report (Session 2007-08), HC 25, House of Commons Health Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | NHS Employers press release | BMA press release | AOMRC press release | Liberal Democrats press release | BBC report | Guardian report | Telegraph report | Personnel Today report
Date: 2008-May
A think-tank report summarized a series of events at which doctors and other health professionals discussed their changing roles. Many doctors felt that there needed to be a clearer understanding of their distinct role in the increasingly multidisciplinary environment of the modern National Health Service, where other health professionals were taking on expanded responsibilities for patients' care.
Source: Ros Levenson, Steve Dewar and Susan Shepherd, Understanding Doctors: Harnessing professionalism, King's Fund (020 7307 2591) and Royal College of Physicians
Links: Report | King's Fund press release
Date: 2008-May
A report said that the National Health Service and medical schools should tackle a 'macho' culture which was preventing female medical academics from reaching senior positions.
Source: Anita Holdcroft et al., Women in Academic Medicine: Developing equality in governance and management for career progression, British Medical Association (020 7387 4499)
Links: Report | BMA press release
Date: 2008-Apr
An article examined the context for the introduction of new grades of care assistants/support workers in health and social care. It highlighted issues in practice and usage to date, and analyzed tensions between policy objectives around efficiency and equity in the employment of these workers.
Source: Carole Thornley, 'Efficiency and equity considerations in the employment of health care assistants and support workers', Social Policy and Society, Volume 7 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2008-Apr
A report identified a shortfall in the number of consultants required in many specialties. There was also a need to increase the number of consultants over and above the expansion that had already taken place in recent years, in order to ensure that patients received the highest possible level of care, and that the National Health Service delivered its services in the most cost-effective way.
Source: Enhancing Quality: Promoting consultant expansion across the NHS, British Medical Association (020 7387 4499)
Links: Report | BMA press release | Telegraph report | BBC report
Date: 2008-Apr
A report by a committee of the National Assembly for Wales called for urgent action from the Welsh Government to improve workforce planning in health and social care.
Source: Inquiry into Workforce Planning in the Health Service and in Social Care, Health, Wellbeing and Local Government Committee/National Assembly for Wales (029 2082 5111)
Links: Report | NHS Wales press release
Date: 2008-Mar
The government published its response to the detailed recommendations of the independent (Tooke) inquiry into the system for recruiting and training hospital doctors.
Source: The Secretary of State for Health's Response to 'Aspiring to Excellence: Final report of the Independent Inquiry into Modernising Medical Careers', Department of Health (08701 555455)
Links: Report | Hansard | DH press release | NHS Employers press release | BMA press release | RCP press release | RCPsych press release | GMC press release | Personnel Today report
Date: 2008-Feb
An official inquiry (led by John Tooke) into why thousands of junior doctors were unable to find training posts (in 2007) recommended that that a new body – NHS Medical Education England – should be established to manage postgraduate medical training, outside direct Department of Health control.
Source: Aspiring to Excellence: Final report of the Independent Inquiry into Modernising Medical Careers, MMC Inquiry c/o Universities UK (enquiries@mmcinquiry.org.uk)
Links: Report | BMA press release | NHS Employers press release | RCP press release | RCPsych press release | AOMRC press release | Guardian report | Telegraph report | Personnel Today report
Date: 2008-Jan
A paper said that central pay setting for nurses in England meant that hospitals in high-cost areas struggled to recruit and retain staff – with the result that they treated fewer patients and had higher fatality rates among patients admitted with emergency heart attacks.
Source: Emma Hall, Carol Propper and John Van Reenen, Can Pay Regulation Kill? Panel data evidence on the effect of labor markets on hospital performance, Working Paper 08/184, Centre for Market and Public Organisation/University of Bristol (0117 954 6943)
Links: Working paper | Abstract | LSE press release | FT report
Date: 2008-Jan
A study found that 1 in 3 doctors had been physically or verbally attacked at work in the previous year. 1 in 10 was physically attacked, including being stabbed, kicked, punched, bitten, or spat on. Most doctors who were attacked did not report it to the police.
Source: Press release January 2008, British Medical Association (020 7387 4499)
Links: BMA press release | Guardian report | BBC report | Personnel Today report
Date: 2008-Jan
