Comments on: BMA chairman resigns over MTAS letter http://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2007/05/21/bma-president-resigns-over-mtas-letter/ Just another blogs.bmj.com weblog Fri, 10 Oct 2008 23:52:12 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: John J Turner http://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2007/05/21/bma-president-resigns-over-mtas-letter/#comment-1762 John J Turner Tue, 22 May 2007 13:03:58 +0000 http://resource.bmj.com/bmj/2007/05/21/bma-president-resigns-over-mtas-letter/#comment-1762 Some uncomfortable but vital lessons must be learned from the MTAS disaster to avoid more of the same. The BMA and the Academy of Royal Colleges have looked weak and ineffectual having entered into 'partnership' roles with the DoH. The early agreements over generalities are rather like motherhood and apple pie and easy to sign up to. The trap is sprung and the incompetent poorly developed operational details are released deliberately late in the process. The government ploy is then to insist that the major players were all on board. A full professional analysis and scrutiny of detailed proposals must be gone through well before schemes such as this and their are many others become a fait accompli. This pseudo collaberation is actually a major system failure between the Department of Health and the profession. The Chief Medical Officer as the government appointee and a major architect of the process surely needs no sympathy from the chairman of the BMA. Some uncomfortable but vital lessons must be learned from the MTAS disaster to avoid more of the same.
The BMA and the Academy of Royal Colleges have looked weak and ineffectual having entered into ‘partnership’ roles with the DoH.
The early agreements over generalities are rather like motherhood and apple pie and easy to sign up to. The trap is sprung and the incompetent poorly developed operational details are released deliberately late in the process. The government ploy is then to insist that the major players were all on board.
A full professional analysis and scrutiny of detailed proposals must be gone through well before schemes such as this and their are many others become a fait accompli.
This pseudo collaberation is actually a major system failure between the Department of Health and the profession.
The Chief Medical Officer as the government appointee and a major architect of the process surely needs no sympathy from the chairman of the BMA.

]]> By: Tunde Odutoye http://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2007/05/21/bma-president-resigns-over-mtas-letter/#comment-1761 Tunde Odutoye Mon, 21 May 2007 20:03:11 +0000 http://resource.bmj.com/bmj/2007/05/21/bma-president-resigns-over-mtas-letter/#comment-1761 Dear Sir or Madam, This is just to let you know that I feel that the BMA as an organisation has betrayed the trust of many of its members ( especially the junior ones ), and in my opinion behaved in the whole MMC/MTAS crisis in an absolutely cowardly, selfserving and unfortunately some would say traitorous fashion. The conduct of our senior medics as a whole in the various colleges and representative bodies also leaves very much to be desired. The BMA appearing in court against the junior doctors remedy judicial case was unwarranted and unfortunate, and then the letter from the BMA president to The Times certainly showed many of us how far the BMA has veered from representing its members interests. All I can say is an absolute good riddance to James Johnson, his totally misguided attempts to justify the unjustifiable, and his attempts to try to keep a hopelessly flawed system afloat. Where are the BMA's ideals ? Lost in political pragmatism and greasy pole climbing I suppose. Hopefully as an organisation the BMA will learn some lessons from this utterly unedifying experience. It is the only real union we have at the moment, and we have to support it, but it shouldn't deceive itself that that situation will necessarily remain so if real change in it's outlook is not made soon. The times have changed, and the old heirarchical medical system of seniors telling juniors what is good for them ( and they either like it or lump it ) is fast fading away. If we want to remain a reasonably united profession then we must grant our junior colleagues an equal voice in their future, and not the current condescending voice of pusillanimous pragmatism. Thank you, and kind regards. Tunde Odutoye Dear Sir or Madam,

This is just to let you know that I feel that the BMA as an organisation has betrayed the trust of many of its members ( especially the junior ones ), and in my opinion behaved in the whole MMC/MTAS crisis in an absolutely cowardly, selfserving and unfortunately some would say traitorous fashion. The conduct of our senior medics as a whole in the various colleges and representative bodies also leaves very much to be desired.

The BMA appearing in court against the junior doctors remedy judicial case was unwarranted and unfortunate, and then the letter from the BMA president to The Times certainly showed many of us how far the BMA has veered from representing its members interests.

All I can say is an absolute good riddance to James Johnson, his totally misguided attempts to justify the unjustifiable, and his attempts to try to keep a hopelessly flawed system afloat. Where are the BMA’s ideals ? Lost in political pragmatism and greasy pole climbing I suppose.

Hopefully as an organisation the BMA will learn some lessons from this utterly unedifying experience. It is the only real union we have at the moment, and we have to support it, but it shouldn’t deceive itself that that situation will necessarily remain so if real change in it’s outlook is not made soon. The times have changed, and the old heirarchical medical system of seniors telling juniors what is good for them ( and they either like it or lump it ) is fast fading away. If we want to remain a reasonably united profession then we must grant our junior colleagues an equal voice in their future, and not the current condescending voice of pusillanimous pragmatism.

Thank you, and kind regards.

Tunde Odutoye

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