The government’s Modernising Medical Careers agenda, following the MTAS march at the weekend, hit Westminster yesterday as health secretary Patricia Hewitt faced questioning from MPs led by Conservative health spokesman Andrew Lansley.

Ms Hewitt reiterated the government’s commitment to a computerised application process, and said the Department of Health would continue to work to ensure that trainee doctors were properly supported and fairly treated, and that the NHS is able to train and recruit the best doctors for the future.

“It is clear that there have been concerns about the selection process, and that the process as a whole has created a high degree of insecurity amongst applicants, and, indeed, more widely in the profession,