The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) has welcomed the the news that Professor Dame Jane Dacre will lead phase 2 of the national review of postgraduate medical training.
Professor Mumtaz Patel, RCP president, said:
‘The RCP welcomes the establishment of the medical education training review implementation group chaired by Professor Dame Jane Dacre. The diagnostic phase of the review confirmed what doctors have been saying for years: postgraduate medical training is simply no longer fit for purpose and needs to be modernised.
‘Archaic structures and inflexible career pathways are holding doctors back from becoming the clinical leaders of the future. Urgent, system wide reform is now essential.
‘Led by resident doctors, the RCP’s next generation campaign was instrumental in securing this national review of medical training, along with legislation to tackle unacceptably high competition ratios, and we were very pleased to see the phase 1 diagnostic report clearly echo the priorities of our fellows and members.
‘For too long, resident doctors have worked in a system that struggles to balance service provision with high quality medical training. Reform must deliver protected time for education and an NHS where doctors feel valued by their employers.
‘This review is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to make change happen. As the voice of physicians, we stand ready to work closely with Dame Jane and colleagues across the four nations to help turn these ambitions into practical, evidence-based reforms that benefit our physician workforce, and ultimately, patient care.’