Responding to Professor John Collins' evaluation of the first two years of junior doctor training (The Foundation Programme), Dr Tom Dolphin, Co-Chair of the BMA's Junior Doctors Committee said:

"Instead of being an exciting launch pad for their careers many junior doctors are finding that the first two years of training are characterised by inadequate levels of supervision. Our medical education system produces highly skilled graduates, but they must be properly supported once they begin direct patient care.

"We need to address the system failures that allow newly qualified doctors to be put in a position where they are working beyond their level of training. It is incredibly stressful for doctors to be put in this position and it will inevitably threaten patient safety.

"Where this is happening, employers need to be accountable for the systems in place to support juniors in clinical decision-making, and this must include juniors being withdrawn from a department if those systems are inadequate.

"We also need to urgently investigate problems with the selection of doctors into the programme, the length of work placements and the excessive levels of assessment."

Source:
British Medical Association