MTAS, MMC – Management Muppets

Described by one leading surgeon as “the biggest crisis to hit British medicine since the start of the NHS”¹, the MMC (Modernising Medical Careers) government-lead programme has preciptated the most recent Labour climbdown. Yesterday, they were forced to announce an urgent review of the whole MMC programme following the deluge of complaints from doctors who had apparently been left with careers shattered.

The report in today’s Telegraph is another example of government mismanagement, following the (too) fast introduction of a centralised job allocation scheme for doctors. The MMC programme has been introduced to nationalise medical job allocation in true Labour style. When will these socialists ever learn? The only positive outcome of this debacle that I can discern is that few doctors will ever vote Labour again.

For those of you who do not know what MMC is all about read the following (copied from here):

(MMC) aims to improve patient care by delivering a modernised and focused career structure for doctors through a major reform of postgraduate medical education. It aims to develop demonstrably competent doctors who are skilled at communicating and working as effective members of a team. As training and education are central to the work of doctors and their role in delivering patient care, MMC will also bring about significant changes to career structures, providing qualified staff who are able to meet the needs of patients.

Inspiring management-speak!! What about the needs of doctors? Where are the Royal Colleges? And what about the lamentable BMA, an organisation that I very quickly realised after graduation was toothless. Touchingly, the BMA spokesperson was quoted yesterday as saying, “We have been warning since last summer that these reforms were being rushed through too quickly. From the point of view of the thousands of doctors who’ve been messed around, given incorrect information, or denied job opportunities that they deserved, it’s a shame the Government didn’t listen then.” Why didn’t the BMA do something about it? Typical.

MMC has been brought in using the MTAS system. Like most IT systems set up by this government it has not worked terribly well. There have been reports of information being lost or misinterpreted. Furthermore, doctors have been given interviews for specialities they had not applied for! A sadly amusing example is presented below:

A fellow Psychiatry SHO received an interview for ST2 Paediatrics, which came as a surprise to him as he had not even applied for this (we’re familiar with these stories by now…no surprise there).
Easy mistake to have been made by the MMC/MTAS authorities I hear you cry – after all both specialities begin with the letter p.
I did not get shortlisted for any psychiatry interviews in round 1. I’m already on a London training rotation, I can string together two sentences fairly easily, and have picked up a few prizes, qualifications and publications along the way. My strategy for round 2 – to apply for Podiatry, Physiotherapy or even Payroll in the hope that the clever little MTAS people might accidentally slip me a Psychiatry interview instead. A tactic worth considering…

The government’s climbdown was precipitated by the news that a group of surgeons in the West Midlands had refused to proceed with the selection procedure. Bob Spychal, chairman of the interview team and a consultant surgeon at the City Hospital, Birmingham said, “The 10 surgeons (on the panel) were unanimous. We know we have disappointed the candidates and we have spoken to all of them, but we have no confidence that the system is robust and fair. It is not fit for purpose. Someone had to do something. Perhaps other panels in other specialities will do the same thing.”

Let’s hope Mr Spychal is correct. I fear though, that doctors have never been terribly good at representing themselves. They are not a militant bunch. There is little appetite for strike action and the government knows it. MMC was not about serving doctors’ interests. It was dressed up as being about patients, when in fact, it was about a centralising government wresting control of medical careers from the Royal Colleges. The Labour Party has no history of devolving power to professionals.

So, why did the Royal Colleges appear to roll over so easily? It is about time they stood up for doctors’ best interests, and consequently, the best interests of patients. For the government to say that MMC is about improving patient care is spurious. From what I have heard, progress in the MTAS system had little to do with surgical/medical acumen, it had more to do with answering managment consultant-type questions in a particular way. Well, that’s reassuring. Next time I’m under the knife, I’ll be wondering whether he/she is there because he/she ‘works well’ with his/her colleagues. Forget about surgical ability…….

This government has to be the worst in living memory. This whole affair was predictable, and has ended up quashing the professional hopes of many talented and hard-working doctors, some of whom are my close friends. I could not be angrier about the whole affair. The sooner we get rid of these muppets from government, the better.

¹ Prof Gus McGrouther, professor of plastic and reconstructive surgery at the University of Manchester