President’s letter
Dear Colleagues
Some of you will know that last month I was
asked to join the MTAS (Medical Training Application Service)
Review Group, chaired by Professor Neil Douglas. We are still
working hard to help the MMC team at the Department of Health try
to find some fair and workable solutions to the problems
encountered with the electronic applications and the short listing
process. Do check the website regularly (http://www.mtas.nhs.uk/)
Dr Amit Malik, chair of
Psychiatric Trainees’ Committee also writes in this month’s
enewsletter about MTAS. The College officers and I would like to
extend our thanks to all of you who have been working hard short
listing and interviewing candidates, and supporting and mentoring
trainees whose lives have been thrown into turmoil by the
uncertainties of this new system.
I have also just returned from an interesting
visit to Kenya for the first meeting of our Africa Division. As
well as meeting many African psychiatrists, Prof Hamid Ghodse
(Director of the Board of International Affairs) and I met three
College volunteers who have had placements in Nigeria, Malawi and
Ethiopia. Two of these were trainees whose placements had been
approved for training. There are opportunities for both senior and
trainee volunteers to work in many parts of the world. For more
information see
http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/college/boardofinternationalaffairs/seniorvolunteersprogramme.aspx
Professor Sheila Hollins, President, The Royal
College of Psychiatrists
1. MTAS: the views of the Psychiatric Trainees’
Committee
Before the start of the first round of
national selection for specialty training, there were huge concerns
about the reliability and the feasibility of the process. The
Psychiatric Trainees’ Committee (PTC) expressed many of these
concerns at various levels during the developmental process. Some
were taken on board and reassurances were given with regards to
others.
It has now clear that there have been
significant problems with the first round of MTAS recruitment. Even
though there were multiple reported difficulties, including
technical hitches with the electronic portal and differential
treatment of candidates across Deaneries, the most significant
worries are around the short listing process. The PTC’s view, which
is informed by the hundreds of emails and telephone calls received
from both Consultants and trainees across the country, is that many
excellent and deserving candidates were not short listed and a few
of those who were short listed were less deserving than others. We
are not at all suggesting that all those who were short listed did
not deserve to be; indeed a majority of these are reported to be
excellent candidates. We are mainly concerned about that robustness
and the reliability of the short listing process.
Whilst it is impossible to describe the anger,
frustration, disappointment and dejection faced by trainees, the
overriding emotions are anxiety and panic. We sympathise with all
the trainees caught in this mess. Through the Academy of Medical
Royal Colleges and the Academy Trainees Group, the PTC is involved
in discussions with the review panel chaired by Prof. Douglas.
Following the latest press release on the 23rd of March
2007, many trainees contacted us. The concerns expressed by them
have confirmed our belief that offering one interview for all is
not an acceptable outcome.
The PTC is making strong representations to
the review group with regards to this, and we will do our utmost to
push for a system that is equitable and fair to all trainees. We
hope to achieve this, but in order for this to happen, it is
imperative that, for the moment, we keep the dialogue open with the
Department of Health and the review panel. The majority of PTC
feels that walking out at this stage will eliminate any likelihood
of demanding a more just solution.
However, we are also aware that this review
process cannot be allowed to drag on indefinitely and our
involvement in the dialogue is contingent on an urgent, equitable
and fair resolution to this crisis in postgraduate medical
recruitment. We will keep trainees informed via the trainees’
section of the College website about events as they develop. We are
eager to receive emails (mailto:kforster@rcpsych.ac.uk) from
trainees and trainers affected by the process so that we can have a
well-informed discussion with the review group.
2. Assessing and managing risk in clinical
practice
Dr John Morgan has worked with the countries, divisions and
faculties to prepare a paper on this subject. The paper is on the
College website for further consultation over the next three weeks.
http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/members/presidentspage/riskassessmentinpsychiatry.aspx
The College is also setting up a group to continue this work
with Baroness Helena Kennedy as chair. The group will produce a
report which will form the basis of a multi-agency seminar in the
autumn.
Professor Sue Bailey. Registrar
3. Information on the College
website and in the College e-newsletter
The website has information about all aspects
of College work. It contains well over a thousand pages with
many new pages being added or updated each week. Because the
work of updating the site is now carried out by over 30 people, it
has become quite hard to keep members up to date about the site’s
contents. Many members do not visit the site regularly and may
therefore remain unaware any new material.
Most organisations will have experienced this
problem. One solution is to circulate a regular newsletter to all
employees and members outlining key developments and providing
readers with links to more in-depth material on the website.
The e-newsletter editor and web editor work
with the Department of External Affairs to review ongoing plans for
the website and e-newsletter as complementary ways of keeping the
membership informed about current issues and developments affecting
members. We are looking at ways of stimulating more debate
among members and feedback to the College. At the moment, members
can comment on the website by using the ‘contact us’ link found on
every page. We hope that the newsletter will encourage more debate
and feedback
4. Listening to our monthly
podcasts
Each month Dr Raj Persaud interviews authors
of key papers from the current edition of the British Journal of
Psychiatry. You can listen to these audio files from the
College website, download them to your PC for future use and
transfer them to your
MP3 player. Dr Martin Briscoe, website
editor
http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/pressparliament/podcasts/feb2007.aspx
5. Prescribing guidance for Alzheimer’s
disease
There is to be a judicial review of the
technology appraisal guidance 111 ‘Donepezil, galantamine,
rivastigmine (review) and memantine for the treatment of
Alzheimer’s disease.
http://www.alzheimers.org.uk