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The head of MMC just resigned.

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From:

purpletigron.livejournal.com

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/03/31/nhs231.xml

Professor Alan Crockard's letter of resignation (excerpt)

"I have become increasingly concerned that the well intentioned attempts to keep the recruitment and selection process running have been accompanied by mixed messages to the most important people in the whole process - the young doctor applicants.

I realise that the service must continue to allow patients to be treated and I know little of the law, but it seems to me basically unfair to advertise the possibility of four interviews and then suggest that these might not be honoured.

Equally devastating would be the suggestion of some stakeholders, that the completed interviews be discarded and the process be rerun.

I accept that in many areas and in many specialties, this round of recruitment and selection has been acceptable. But the overriding message coming back from the profession is that it has lost confidence in the current recruitment system."

Bah-to-the-aleph-0 :-(

From:

bend-gules.livejournal.com

http://blogs.bmj.com/2007/03/30/mcc-head-resigns

Exerpt:

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http://blogs.bmj.com/2007/03/30/mcc-head-resigns

Exerpt:

<<Modernising Medical Careers is a Department of Health agency charged with improving medical education for the benefit of patients and doctors alike. Its brief was to reform postgraduate medical training.

But MTAS, the computerised application system which has caused all the problems for junior doctors applying for posts starting this August, was not in the hands of the MMC. Instead the project was run by a separate Department of Health agency. Professor Crockard had no control over it.

The MTAS review group, chaired by Professor Neil Douglas, and which met this morning, expressed its regret at Professor Crockard’s decision, said the spokesperson.

As yet it is unclear what the ramifications of Professor Crockard’s resignation will be. Statements are due this afternoon from the Chief Medical Officer in Wales and the Director of NHS Education for Scotland. If his decision triggers other academics to pull out of MTAS, the system could collapse, though it seems unlikely the government would let that happen at this stage. BMJ will bring the latest news as soon as we get it.>>

From this, it suggests that the thoughtful and honourable person in charge has quit, instead of whatever twat was in charge of outlining the requirements for the online system.

An inadequate online interface, and a process that doesn't work, suggests (to me) that a previously-developed system was used (perhaps for hiring through a temp agency?) instead of doing the fiddly work of actually *defining* what the hirers, and the junior doctors, need in order to staff positions efficiently, and developing an interface and system that would do it.