Hewitt abandons hated doctors' online application system

Critics called the climbdown by Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt an "embarrassing admission of failure".

It came as senior doctors warned that "disastrous mistakes" in the Medical Training Application Service (MTAS) will jeopardise the careers of 10,000 juniors and could put patients at risk.

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Many highly qualified candidates have not been given an interview because of the new computerised system, which has been beset by design faults, technical problems and security breaches.

There was widespread anger about the "dumbing down" and unfairness of the selection process.

Junior doctors were also angered by the "one strike and you're out" approach, which means those who missed out in the first round would not be able to get back on the career ladder to become consultants.

Miss Hewitt said offers of training posts for juniors successful under round one of MTAS will go ahead, but the recruitment process will revert to the old CV based system for those who have so far failed to gain a place.

But 34,000 applicants will still be competing for only 22,000 posts, with about 30 per cent left to fill after round one.

In a written statement to the Commons, Miss Hewitt - who was criticised for not appearing in person - said round one will close in late June.

She said: "Given the continuing concerns of junior doctors about MTAS, the system will not be used for matching candidates to training posts, but will continue to be used for monitoring."

A report detailing alleged security breaches of the online recruitment system - where the public could have had access to personal details of junior doctors - has been passed to the police, said Miss Hewitt.

A group of senior consultants writing in The Lancet medical journal said the careers of 10,000 junior doctors could be irreparably damaged because of the disastrous mistakes of MTAS.

Professor Morris Brown of Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, said the prospect of newly appointed trainees all taking up their hospital posts on the Government's changeover date of August 1 was "absurd" and could put patients at risk.

He believes the process should be staggered.

A campaign group of doctors, Remedy UK, is launching a legal challenge today in the High Court with the aim of getting the whole process scrapped.

Liberal Democrat health spokesman Norman Lamb said: "This is a massive and embarrassing admission of failure.

"Having stubbornly persisted with the current system despite calls for its abandonment,

"Patricia Hewitt is now dropping it one day before court proceedings begin into its fairness."

Dr Andrew Rowland, vice chairman of the British Medical Association's Junior Doctors Committee, warned that wholesale scrapping of the process would create an even worse mess.

He said: "Forcing people to reapply for jobs through yet another new and untested system would be unfair on the junior doctors and consultants who have had to spend huge amounts of time and energy on MTAS."