Paul Eldridge:
> Apparently a number of MLSOs in cytopathology have been transferred to the
> clinical scientist scale, at least in SE England, to help solve a quality
> and recruitment problem
Project EVETSIN (Evaluation of vocational education and training of
scientists in the NHS - conducted 1996-8) had limited time to study the
smaller clinical scientist groups (such as embryologists and immunologists
- and I don't think we interviewed any clinical scientists in cytology), and in
any case its remit was limited to looking at training since 1991. However,
we were inevitably aware that in some groups, the recruitment and retention
issues were very different from those in clinical biochemistry.
The fact that Dr Eldridge is in London is one reason for local difficulties, of
course, but the relative expansion of some subject areas like genetics (the
cytogeneticists and molecular geneticists in particular) in the last 10 years
or so has meant that staffing has had to respond to very pressing demands
over a short timescale. I was told that large numbers of MLSOs in
cytogenetics had originally been cross-graded to clinical scientists;
molecular genetics then generally evolved out of this specialty and both
areas are now overwhelmingly staffed by clinical scientists (with few if any
MLSOs, technical support being provided by MTOs and MLAs). According
to senior cytogenetists I interviewed early last year, they have recruitment
problems at Grade B - many posts remain unfilled at B8-10, which is having
an impact on service provision; good strategic planning is quite difficult
when there are lots of short-term changes and pressures. One solution
they have used - not always successfully - is to appoint MTOs to be trained
for particular tasks.
I sympathise with Dr Eldridge's concern about how trainee biochemists
may feel, but perhaps he can be comforted by the fact that the
cytogeneticists and molecular geneticists, despite the pressures of
specialties which were developing at great speed, very quickly developed
and implemented excellent Grade A and HST training schemes towards
higher qualifications (DipACC and MRCPath). The histocompatibility and
immunogenetics group have done likewise; one of them commented to me
that they had established an MRCPath training scheme in just a few years
from, in effect, a standing start.
Perhaps the cytology group will, like these groups, be similarly motivated
by professional concern for quality to establish a rigorous training scheme,
with competencies and occupational standards defined. How we variously
respond to recruitment and retention problems in our professions, though,
will probably always be a cause for some concern.
Dr MJ Pearson
Department of Clinical Biochemistry & Immunology
Old Medical School
Leeds General Infirmary (Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust)
LEEDS LS1 3EX
Tel 0113 392 3945
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