A data processing issue at the Royal Colleges of Physicians means that 222 doctors were erroneously told they had passed an exam. The BMA is calling for compensation.
The error made by the Federation of the Royal Colleges of Physicians of the UK, in which 222 doctors were told they had passed an exam they had in fact failed, and a further 61 were told they had failed when they had passed, has been described by the British Medical Association (BMA) as a “catastrophic error”.
The Royal Colleges of Physicians admitted the mistake in a statement saying that an internal audit process revealed that 1,451 took the exam – called the MRCP(UK) Part 2 Written Examination – in September 2023 but almost 300 got the wrong results.
“On behalf of the Federation of the Royal Colleges of Physicians of the UK, we deeply and unreservedly apologise for this situation. We appreciate how distressing the candidates affected will find this, and for some, it will create an additional burden to the hard and vital work they do,” wrote Mike Jones, executive medical director of the Royal Colleges of Physicians.
Data processing issue
Out of 1,451 candidates in the MRCP(UK) Part 2 Written Examination on the 6 September 2023 (Diet 2023/3), 283 were given the wrong result – 61 candidates who were told they had failed have passed and 222 candidates who were told they had passed have failed.
The organisation said that the errors were “due to a data processing issue” which was isolated and has now been fixed.
“Our own audit processes identified the issue which we can confirm is isolated to this specific exam and there is no fault on the part of any candidate. UK resident doctors who are likely to have taken this examination are at an early level of practice and are under the supervision of consultant physicians and therefore no new risk to patient safety,” added Jones.
The Royal Colleges of Physicians said that examination fees will be refunded, a resit will be free of fees and other help will provided according to individual circumstances.
Significant support and compensation
The exam is one of three parts and must be taken by doctors who want to progress in their training in a medical specialism such as cardiology, respiratory or intensive care medicine.
The BMA highlighted the fact that the mistake by the Colleges’ exam body, and the time it has taken to discover it, means there will be doctors, who having been told they had passed, have progressed in their careers but now face uncertainties about their future because of this error.
There are also potential lost earnings for doctors not able to progress because of this mistake, it continued. Even worse, some may have abandoned their medical career altogether, wrongly believing they were not good enough to get any further as a doctor.
“Failing an exam is devastating and has consequences for doctors as they work their way up the ladder of expertise; being told you have failed when in fact you have passed, is even worse… The moral, legal and governance aspects of this truly terrible mistake are far-reaching and must not be under-estimated by the public, government, and the NHS,” said BMA chair of council Philip Banfield. “The Federation must commit to significant support and compensation for all the doctors whose lives and careers will be in turmoil today because of this mistake,” he continued.
