Junior doctors are warning that draft proposals from the Department of Health will mean the abandonment of the gold standard of UK consultant training and might risk future consultants’ ability to deliver comprehensive patient care.The Junior Doctors’ Committee of the British Medical Association has learned that plans are being developed to cut by almost half the time it takes to train as a consultant. This would mean doctors reaching consultant status at an average age of 27 instead of 37. At the moment a consultant typically has between nine and 12 years postgraduate experience but this would fall to between five and seven under plans to be unveiled later this month. The committee believes that this, when combined with the reductions in junior doctors’ hours under the European Working Time Directive, will mean a newly-appointed consultant would have just 13,000 hours experience instead of the current average of 25,000 hours.

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Staff from private sector telecommunications, financial services and manufacturing companies have been working with government to tackle the burden of unnecessary regulations on the business community. In a report on its first year’s work, The Business Regulation Team, based in the Cabinet Office Regulatory Impact Unit, says it has concentrated on tackling red tape in the chemicals and retail sectors.The report details the steps the government has taken in response to the team’s initiatives,including a major review of operational enforcement in the chemicals manufacturing industry, a national scheme for accrediting proof-of-age cards, reform of the administrative requirements of the Sunday Trading Act and a review of the Poisons Act, including the need for a licence to sell everyday household products such as kettle descaler.

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By Peter Illsley, Jim Knox and Neil Amos. Reproduced by permission of the Public Management and Policy Association. Translating policy into improved performance at the sharp end has not previously had so much attention lavished on it. The authors describe the different models used to achieve delivery and argue that civil servants at the center need to widen their approach to change management if they are to succeed.