Junior doctor bodies warn of ‘inadequate’ medical training

Plans
to shorten medical training are being rushed through without regard for patient
safety in an attempt to mislead the public, according to bodies representing
junior doctors.

The
BMA Junior Doctors Committee and the Trainees Committee of the Academy of
Medical Royal Colleges warn that the Government’s ‘Modernising  Medical Careers’ scheme could bring about a
drastic reduction in the quality of UK consultants.

The
Government plans outline a programme to produce a "new type" of
doctor, who would practice as a consultant without undergoing advanced
specialist training. For some surgeons, postgraduate training could be cut from
11 to six years.

Simon
Eccles, chairman of the BMA Junior Doctors Committee, said there was an
increasing fear that medical training was being dumbed down. 

"The
Government should be working to ensure that we continue to produce doctors
capable of delivering the highest possible standards of patient care," he
said.

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"Instead,
it seems intent on creating a production line, turning out inadequately-trained
doctors and calling them consultants in order to meet its targets."

By Ross Wigham