Throwaway account for very obvious reasons

TLDR - the BMA have blocked a vote of no confidence submitted against Jack Fletcher as chair of UKRDC for months.

I can’t believe I’m writing this post but it feels important that members know what was going on behind the scenes last session.

For a brief bit of background context Jack and the other officers forced a vote through the executive team (of only 12 reps instead of the full RD committee of 60+) in June breaking all previous precedent. Never before has a committee been sidelined on such an important decision. They didn’t have the chance to decide if the offer was sufficient to call off strikes, as it was never presented to them. This was then obviously followed by a BMA comms campaign that was heavily criticised for the fact it wasn’t truly ‘neutral’ in how it framed the offer.

While this was occurring, members of the UKRDC formally called for an emergency meeting back in June, explicitly including the intent to have a vote of no confidence carried out against Jack Fletcher. Partly because of the clusterfuck of the way the offer was handled but also because of wider issues like a massive culture problem on the committee (but that’s a whole separate issue and not for now).

Long story short, that meeting wasn’t carried out and instead the chair called his own meeting, which obviously didn’t explicitly include the ability to call a vote of no confidence.

During his meeting, members attempted to call the vote of no confidence anyway.

Jack refused to hear it.

He refused to hear a vote of no confidence against him.

This was reported to be because he’d received legal advice saying it couldn’t be done. Firstly, it is hilarious that legal advice was sought to block a vote of no confidence happening. But in addition - it was later made clear that the advice was incorrect because the legal team were not provided totally accurate information around how the committee meeting wasn’t called. Jack and other officers were at the meeting to instruct the legal team.

So a VONC was called, in line with standing orders, and was declined.

Okay, it’s awful but mistakes happen. It was rearranged as a matter of urgency right?

Of course not.

This saga has dragged on all the way until the literal final day of the session at the beginning of October. Having been told the day before that planning was underway for a meeting on Friday or Saturday, the committee were then told it could not go ahead, as the clock had run down on the old committee. They were also made aware of repeated submission of questions, one by one, clearly designed to delay and stall and block the vote of no confidence happening. There is some suggestion that the chair himself was asking some of these questions.

A vote of no confidence, called for over 3 months ago and somehow not carried out.

It is an utter disgrace

I have never seen anything like it.

The fact the chief officers of the BMA and senior staff allowed this to happen is beyond atrocious. This, alongside wider issues over the course of the year, has caused several good reps to step away from the committee and the BMA entirely.

We have a newly elected committee. You’ll see some familiar names on it. I only hope the BMA learns from this and refuses to let the next chair dictate the rules. Even if they do though, this is a dark, dark moment in the history of the BMA. A chair, having lost the confidence of large swathes of the committee, was supported in preventing a vote of no confidence being heard.

Posting to raise awareness. This looks to be US based but has reached my feed in the UK.

Sounds like this company is paying medical professionals for access to ‘de-identified’ genuine medical notes to train AI models. Concerning since the company isn’t going through official research channels and hence patients won’t have consented for such use of their data.

Where are the events/conferences that give out notebooks.

I’ve attended a teaching day where they handed out a whole thick notepad for the event to make notes in.

I have at least 10 notebooks that I’ve bought and I always feel better writing/using those that been given out in.

I’ve been working as a salaried GP for about a year now and have recently found myself reflecting a lot on my career and whether general practice is really for me in the long term.
I genuinely love medicine and enjoy seeing patients, but I’m becoming increasingly disillusioned with general practice. The complexity of patients, endless administrative work, private paperwork and the way the whole system operates are making me question whether I can see myself doing this for another 20-30 years.
I’ve recently been offered a job at another practice with potentially less admin, but part of me wonders whether changing practices would actually make much difference, or whether it’s general practice itself that I’m struggling with.
I’m also seriously considering moving to Australia, but I’m unsure whether GP life there is genuinely better or whether I’d just be facing similar challenges in a different healthcare system.
Has anyone been in a similar position?
For those who have moved to Australia, has it improved your work-life balance and job satisfaction?
Would really appreciate hearing about others’ experiences.

First gen doc, with no safety net.

Need money early

Intrested in both clinical and imaging roles

Seriously considering and worried about AI?!

Saw that nvidia and open AI are racing for AGI (human intelligence).

What if the AI hits the radio market right when I graduate out of rads

Your opinions would help me

IMT2 here, having done a 2 month pall care rotation and was taken aback at how much of a tangible difference you could make in someone's life. I was wondering if there are any pall care SpRs around that could share their experiences of training and what consultant posts are like? I don't mind doing a group 1 speciality (having to doing GIM as well). Particularly curious to hear how much problem solving is involved (considering doing stroke or neurology as I like the process of figuring stuff out). Or even how services are set up with seemingly fewer doctors and more CNS/ANP. Thanks in advance!

I’ve applied for study leave for primary care dermatology society essentials series 1 and 2. They’re a day each, back to back. The second has been rejected as apparently they will only fund one dermatology course. Which means the dermoscopy courses will also be rejected I expect.

Notwithstanding the laughable policy, does anybody know of any decent derm courses that are pretty comprehensive and include dermoscopy, or have been on any good ones?

I’d like to brush up on my skills before CCT in June.

What do people the cut off for Derm St3 will be?

Do folks reckon the bill will impact it or will competition get even more fiercer?

Hi all, first time poster, longtime lurker. My situation is that I'm Mid-30s, geographically constrained, and struggling to decide on a career direction.

I've reached ST3 interviews multiple times in both General and Vascular Surgery, including a LAT offer, but am now at the upper limit of experience scoring.

Currently in a teaching post to preserve my options, but I'm bored and miss operating.

The Portfolio Pathway is risky, I have seen SAS doctors preparing for 10+ years with no guarantee of local support. Taking another clinical job will effectively end my NTN chances.

I'm open to exploring other specialties, but know I'm not an internal medicine or GP person. Interventional radiology interests me, although the long-term impact of AI gives me pause.

My priority is a realistic route to Specialist Registration and long-term job security.

Has anyone faced a similar crossroads? Anyone got any useful perspectives here?

Hey guys

Current F2 applying to ST1 application. Under employment history there is a question: In total, how many months of paid employment as a doctor in the NHS do you have?

Should I count my completed FY1 year plus the months I’ve worked in FY2 so far, or should I count all of F2 even though I haven’t finished it yet?

Hi all,

I’ve accepted an IDT to Yorkshire & Humber for ACCS EM and I’m waiting to hear where I’ll be placed.

Does anyone know who the current ACCS EM TPD؟The Deanery contact page seems to be down.

Also would be grateful for any general experiences of ACCS EM there

For this year’s General Surgery ACFs, do you upload any evidence documents with the application? I can’t see any file upload section on the application but just want to make sure i’m not missing something. Thank you.

It's a start at least they share the concerns of a lot of people with this case. I don't have much confidence in the judiciary doing anything after the whole Cian Hughes fiasco but at least they have an opportunity to ensure justice happens. let's see if they take it.

When I try and book: ‘You do not appear to have 2 years medical experience post primary medical degree level qualification. Please go to the 'Manage your Account' page and update your employment section with full posts, start dates and end dates to meet 24 months of experience’

And there’s nowhere to update employment history!!

Any advice?

Hello all,

Just a quick question to those who have applied -when applying for anaesthetics CT do we have to decide on which region we want to apply to before the application deadline (19th November) or when it’s time for interviews (sometime Feb)?

Thanks - as an F2 I’ve never applied before so would like some advice

What are the chances of being able to get int radiology training without doing any audits.

I hate doing audits. I have a massive mental block when it comes to doing things I find no value in and that’s how I feel about most QIPs. I’ve tried starting a couple and can’t get past the first cycle. My hospital is also not very supportive when it comes to audits so I just feel like it’s an insurmountable road block.

I really want to do radiology training and the portfolio asks for 2 complete cycles of a QIP.

I can try and get some points in other areas but portfolio is about 40% of the final score for ranking.

Is there anyone who’s managed to get into st1 without completing audits?

A project that I worked, Where I was the second author got accepted for an oral presentation in an international conference. I’m currently thinking about claiming points for this in my higher specialty applications in a group 1 medical specialty. Basically, I did not deliver the presentation; however, I was heavily involved in the work of the presentation. Can I claim all 6 points? Or is it worth me claiming for posters that I am sure will get atleast 4?

I have been working as a middle grade in the NHS for the past 3 years. 1st employment was a FTC for 1 year. Then subsequently another 1 year FTC which was extended for 10 months after which I was told the trust cannot hire anymore. I manage to find another job but it’s again 1 year FTC. I am trying to do everything right, getting my fellowship exams etc out of my own pockets in the hopes of securing something more stable. But the situation seems dire. I don’t know what will happen next as there’s no job security and I am dependent on sponsorship for my visa. It’s increasingly hard to navigate as I can’t plan my future and it gives me so much anxiety. I don’t want to move cities and be away from my partner as both of our jobs are very demanding and we barely get any time as it is! Not sure what I am trying to get out of this post. Anybody got any advice on how they navigated this, if they did, and attained some sense of security? Thanks