www.mddus.com HIGH DEMAND FOR £160K


PRIVATE MEDICAL DEGREE MORE than 500 people have applied for just 70 places on the UK’s first private university medical degree, at a cost of £36,000 a year. The University of Buckingham Medical School opened in early January 2015 and says it has been “absolutely staggered” by the level of interest in its four-and-a-half-year £162,000 degree course. The school’s MB ChB is said to be designed to appeal to a “global


market” with no cap on international student numbers. However, the current intake of 70 students is said to be 60 per cent UK-based and 40 per cent from overseas countries including India, Iraq, Zambia and Norway. Professor John Clapham, chief operating officer at the University


of Buckingham Medical School, said applications for the 2016 course were already twice as high as this year.


NEW TIME LIMIT ON


PROVISIONAL REGISTRATION TRAINEE doctors will be able to hold provisional registration with the General Medical Council for a maximum of three years and 30 days under new rules that come into effect on April 1, 2015. Doctors who hold this status for longer than the 1,125 day period will see their registration expire. The rule change is designed to end indefinite provisional registration


in a bid to minimise the risk of doctors working outside the scope of their registration. The regulator said it will ensure doctors are “appropriately supported and supervised in roles that are within the limits of their registration.” Most doctors complete their first year of postgraduate training (F1) within 12 months and move to full registration. However, some remain provisionally registered for longer if they fail to meet the competencies required to complete F1 or if they have taken time out due to ill health, maternity leave or to work abroad. Problems arise when provisionally registered doctors work in a post


that’s not part of the foundation programme, which falls outside the scope of their registration. The GMC said the new time limit is unlikely to affect current F1


doctors, but added: “If, for whatever reason, a doctor needs more time to complete their training, this new time limit still gives them enough time to repeat their F1 year, if they need to.” Extra time will be allowed for doctors in less than full time training to


ensure they are not disadvantaged. But they will be expected to meet “strict criteria” including agreement from their training provider that they can be given more time to complete their training programme. Letters are being sent out to all current provisionally registered


doctors to inform them of the new rules and how they could be affected by them. On 1 April, they will be automatically allocated 1,125 days to complete their F1 training but requests can be made to extend this.


DUTY OF CANDOUR


BECOMES LAW NEW laws have come into force in England placing a legal duty on hospital, community and mental health trusts to inform and apologise to patients if there have been mistakes in their care that have led to significant harm. The Department of Health said: “The introduction of the Duty of Candour is an important step in ensuring a more honest and open culture in the NHS, particularly when things go wrong. It is a major milestone in the government’s response to the Francis report into Mid Staffordshire, which called for a more open culture in the NHS. It forms part of a wider package of measures designed to support this.” The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has published guidance for NHS organisations to help them meet the requirements of the new regulations.


CASH INCENTIVE


FOR NEW GPs NEW doctors will be offered cash rewards if they choose to become GPs as part of a £10 million campaign to boost numbers in the specialty. NHS England is implementing a range of measures to make general practice a more attractive career move. Under the plan, the Guardian reports, medical graduates who


agree to work for three years as a trainee GP in areas in need of family doctors will receive “additional financial support”. They will also be offered an extra year’s training in another specialty of their choosing, or help with business skills. The campaign follows reports in October 2014 that a large number


of GP training posts in England remained unfilled. Health Education England (HEE) confirmed an overall vacancy rate of 12.4 per cent, with that figure reaching 30 per cent in some of the worst affected areas. The RCGP is also taking part in the campaign. Chair Dr Maureen Baker wrote a


letter to 20,000 trainee doctors urging them to


consider an “exciting” career in general practice, saying the specialty offers “a great deal of flexibility” and its future is “looking bright.” The College also released a


three-minute promotional video in which GPs talk about how they find the specialty exciting and varied.


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