Hewitt blasted over training fiasco
Updated on 24 April 2007
The Government has "no idea where to go from here" with regard to medical training, the shadow health secretary has said.
Andrew Lansley accused Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt of failing to express genuine regret over the fiasco.
Miss Hewitt has apologised for the "terrible anxiety" caused to junior doctors over the introduction of a computerised system for selecting candidates for specialist training.
She has also promised a long-term review of Modernising Medical Careers (MMC) and, in particular, the Medical Training Application Service (MTAS) online process.
But, speaking at a Westminster rally organised by doctors' pressure group Remedy UK, Mr Lansley said of Miss Hewitt: "She came last month to apologise but actually in my book if you apologise in the way she did it ought to be because you recognise what happened and you regret it happening. But she does not seem to regret it at all, she wants to carry on in the same way."
The Tories will raise the issues surrounding specialist training in the Commons in an opposition day debate.
Mr Lansley said the Government had not expressed any regret "for the shambles", adding "they've no idea where to go from here".
The British Medical Association (BMA) warned that the NHS could lose thousands of doctors overseas due to the chaos.
More than half of doctors surveyed by the BMA said they were likely to leave the UK if they do not secure a job through the training programme.
The BMA estimates that 34,250 doctors are chasing 18,500 UK posts, due to start in August. It has requested an "urgent meeting" with Miss Hewitt following the results of the survey. Remedy UK is hoping to mount a legal challenge over the recruitment programme.
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