Junior doctor jobs system abandoned

The highly controversial Medical Training Application Service (MTAS) has been beset by problems.

Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt said all initial offers under round one of the system will be made to doctors in the next few weeks. But MTAS will no longer be used for round two of the recruitment process.

Only doctors who have been unsuccessful in round one will go on to round two of the process.

Round two will now be CV-based, with junior doctors applying to individual deaneries who oversee training at a local level.

Ms Hewitt said in a written statement that round one will close in late June.

She added: "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 national monitoring."

A report detailing alleged security breaches of the online recruitment system for junior doctors has also been passed to the police, Ms Hewitt said.

She said a review of the MTAS system had shown that "criminal offences may have been committed" with regard to the site.

The alleged breaches are thought to relate to how personal information about junior doctors came to be seen by reporters.