This story reflects the attitudes of today. No one of these daughers thought of moving into the parental home in shifts to take care of them or moving them to their own homes for a bit of respite. Both expect "the state" to take care of their parents although the parrents have taken care of them when they were young but they now like all chidlren of today, middleaged and selfish and busy with their own lives. In Latin countries it is different. However, the inability by the government to publish a leaflet with all the available help clearly written on it and made available in a little pile at a GP's surgery seems to be beyond anybody's ability. The NHS is in chaos. I am 65 and found it impossible to get polite or decent care in the middle of the night when I had a damaged cornea because something flew into my eye. A Junior doctor turned me away from accident and emergency saying my out of hours doctor whould deal with me and my age obviously inspired contempt and lack of respect

Jill, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, UK

The Criminal Records Bureau is redundant anyway. You can be checked out one day and given the all clear and committing a serious offence the next. Just like everything else in Britain now, standards have hit rock bottom and it had to hit Doctors at some stage. Doctors were never very reliable anyway, ( I've got one who's permanently doped up, you can tell.....dilated pupils). When you look at the figures for the number of mistakes made, every day, by doctors in the NHS, it's mind boggling! Whether they're ours or foreign, the standards will probably continue to fall. Failure has been the benchmark for this Government and those who work for it.

judy, Liverpool, england

I don't want to fall sick anymore in the UK and have to go to hospital here. Even Germany would be better!

Eric, Lichfield, Staffs, U.K.,

The UK Government has already passed a law that foreign doctors will get employment only if there are no British or EU trained doctors. They filled a role when the UK did not have enough home grown doctors and are now like the proverbial "curry leaves" asked to leave the country .It is a canard spread by interested parties that they currently take jobs away from EU trained doctors. The current local unemployment has more to do with the shambles made by the recent changes in the modes of recruitment by the Department of health. International medical graduates were made scapegoats in this debacle. Most are as likely to be planning the destruction of their fellow men, as much your local GP is likely to be a Shipman.

Jayaprakash A Gosalakkal, Leicester, UK

Its very pathetic --the uk graduated doctors situation in uk.If you go to any country,the all the jobs will be filled by the local graduates of that country,then only the other graduates from other countries will be considered for doctor jobs.Its the right of the UK medical graduates to be offered the jobs before being given to the overseas candidates.Its very bad that mnay of the uk graduates are just having no jobs after the worst MTAS system and many of the overseas graduates who never even had any kind of experience are celebrating the after effects of the MTAS selection like lottery with many uk graduates being cheated by the Medical system without any job at the end of their very expensive training at the expense of OTHERS TAX.The most important thing is to fill all the posts by the uk graduated who got trained here before giving the post to the overseas medical graduates.

Emily, Scotland, UK

I wonder what kind of security checks are being contemplated by the Govt. Most, if not all, of the doctors involved in the most recent terror plot had immaculate academic records from their respective medical schools. Even the local police in retrospect has been unable to unearth anything that might suggest "risk".
I personally feel such "politicallly correct" security measures would yield nothing constuctive other than leave the entire health care system paranoid, not to mention patients who have lesser faith in their doctors.
On a tangent, it has been suggested that the insecurity presented by MMC and the professional anger amongst doctors that has been brewing since, might well have been a precipitant to the terror attacks. Maybe it might be worth sparing a thought as to what drove such academically brilliant people, who came to this country for their professional pursuits, to choose a path of self and mass destruction.
It takes a lot to turn a healer into a killer.

S Levy, Crowthorne, Berks

Well a negligent system has been converted to utter shambles. Many hospitals do not know whether they will have a full complement of staff to fill their on call rotas from the beginning of August. It just proves that if a system ain't broke don't fix it.

J.M Rodriguez, Bradford, United Kingdom

There were a number of doctors all I believe from overseas, taken into custody earlier this month, why is it only now we are asking the question of security checks, this should have been one of the many high priorites that should have come into force after 10/11. We have at this moment, trained in Britian, fully qualified doctors who can fill all required positions, there is no reason to go overseas. For goodness sake, we have had debates, articales etc on this issue,. Now lets stop passing the buck, once and for all shut the door, close many of the loop holes that Britian has aquired. This can be done, and Britian will be be a better place for it.

A Slee, West Wycombe Village, Britian

paul thomas - you are wrong
mike of oxford - you can't spell and your comments are inane

Jane Hume, Brighton, UK

It is totally inexcusable. Surely by now a proper system should and could be in place? After all we are talking about people who are responsible for people's lives.

Janet Hughes, Montgomery, Wales

We have missed a once in a lifetime opportunity. Doctors swap over on the first wednesday of August. This has always been a disaster as it normally coincides with many secretarys, consultants and admin staff having their annual leave as it is when the kids holidays start. We should have let all the new graduates start in august but move the swap date for all to september. This would give the newest doctors a good time to bed in not have their first day the same day as the rest of the team. The CRB for overseas is a sham anyhow. many doctors have qualified from private medical schools overseas who never fail anyone anyhow. I am a doctor and there is a gulf of knowledge between the overseas doctors from reputable medical schools overseas and private medical schools. We must stop this reliance on overseas substandard staff and re establish links with the decent overseas medical schools.

Dr Jonathan Myers, london, uk

There are a plethora of groups planning the elimination of their fellow man. With regard to 'home grown' aggressors, should we not look to the BNP - a group who are afforded a legitimate voice in the UK.

Does anyone consider the extremism that exists in Israel and the conflict that occurs between various Jewish groups as well as between Jew-Moslem-Christian-Other?

The minority that comprise extremists/aggressors utilise whatever means they can to achieve their aims, and religious ideology is the most effective conduit by which to justify /politicise ones aims.

Psychopaths exist in all walks of life. Targetting specific minority groups provides no panacea . Empathy, accountability and awareness of ones fellow man/woman is what prevents suffering, not sitting passively or going on a frenzied witch hunt. Some intellectual application would not go amiss with regard to the authorities. Unfortunately, engaging the senseless in sense is fruitless.

S, Bristol, UK

Overseas doctors should not be employed without security checks---We have young doctors trained in this country who are security checked before going to Medical school & monitored during training that cannot get jobs--- Have we gone MAD in this country ????

fred, hereford,

My son is a medical student, just about to enter his final year. Luckily he has not had to suffer the ridiculous application system for junior doctors as yet. He is very worried, however, that whatever replaces the current system will be just as bad as the one in place earlier this year. I am not sure if the application system for his two Foundation Years (which immediately follows his initial degree) is any better. He has struggled, financially, for the last four years. I have helped as much as possible but as a single mum it's not been easy. Medical students do not have the same holidays as other students (he just gets three weeks in the summer), work long hours in hospitals and then have to work long hours at home in the evenings. They don't have the possibility of part time work to help their finances. The thought of him not finding a job at the end of his degree is depressing to say the least. He and his friends are so demoralised they often wonder why they bothered!

Marion Abbott, Caterham, Surrey

I am glad to report that I am not a criminal and have no inclination to wreak havok upon my fellow man (or woman), and indeed have been through CRB clearance several times before, but not this time. I start at a new hospital on Wednesday, and I know I will not have clearance. How can I be sure of this? The hospital in question has not even sent me the necessary form to complete, and this despite my having phoned several times to ask them to. The reason they gave is that the shambles of MTAS has caused so much chaos that they haven't been able to organise anything. This would seem a more reasonable excuse were it not that I was one of the fortunate people just senior enough not to be subject to MTAS, so my transferral within region was known about a couple of months ago. If I haven't been cleared, I am certain my more junior colleagues won't have been. You mayl be thinking it doesn't matter that much: I have been cleared before. Perhaps I should mention: I am a children's doctor

sarah, Nottingham, UK

Not so many years ago when working for Royal Mail (a very different company then) I was involved in recruiting thousands of temporary staff for Xmas. Each one vetted and criminal record checked and only allowed to work when cleared. Considering the relative high profile of the doctors job and the current security concerns it seems unbelievable that the authorities concerned are so poorly organised as to not be able to match what was a very technicalogically basic task.

mike gee, bournemouth, uk

As if not only two weeks ago an attempt to bomb a car in the middle of London was luckily unsuccessful...It must be the recent floods that causes such distorted official behavior.

One would rather call it directly and honestly: a mass published open invitation to all (medical) terrorists to enter the heart of the country and execute the next terror attack, disclosing the weaknesses of the system.

Sure enough many people may very well be in need for a doctor after the next terror attack, if successful.

Avraham, Tel Aviv , Israel

I have always trusted the Times to keep away from shock headlines and today that trust has been misplaced. Today's headline is more reminiscent of those used by a certain Tory leaning newspaper.
Besides, there is no honour in kicking a man (the profession of doctors) when he's down.
One suggestion however. If doctors, rather than employers were responsible for holding up to date CRB clearances, then this last minute rush could be avoided. A CRB clearance every 12 months should suffice. Certainly better than at present, where I have had 4 such checks over the past year, working for different hospitals and locum agencies. What a waste of time, money and paper!

Fred Joseph, Weston-Super-Mare, Somerset

Some doctors still don't know where/if they're going to be working; it's hardly surprising that CRB/Disclosure Scotland checks are not possible. I have had a job for nearly 2 months now and still haven't received occupational health/CRB forms etc... I assume the deanaries are too busy trying to fill the vaccant posts so patients can be treated.

Dr James Taylor, Aberdeen, UK

The Crininal Records Bureau checks (including "soft checks") will only return a positive result if an individual has been prosecuted (or for soft checks, suspected) for misdemeanor in the past.

I therefore doubt if any of those implicated in the recent failed terror attacks would have shown positive, and we have no way of knowing how many dissidents we have in the community, far less the medical community, who would pass these tests because they have never hav been prosecuted previously.

Perhaps Harold Shipman himself?

This sort of article may sell newspapers, but it does nothing to contribute to security.

Dr Alex M Grieve, Broom, Warwickshire

Your headline today does seem i little inflammotory but will grab attention!!!
My daughter is a doctor in the West Midlands who has thankfully secured a training post. Like the HUGE majority she is currently employed in the same region and has been security checked for her current role. Incidentally she has also been checked to work with children both in her proffession and voluntarily with Church groups now 5 times.
I do query the employment by the same region of some unchecked foreign doctors. I understood the computerised selction prior to interview was designed to filter out such applicants, and that was the reason for consutants walking out in Birmingham when the interviews began earlier this year. To be losing quality British Nationals trained in British Universities at great cost does seem irresposible use of tax payers money.

sue Lawton, St Lawrence, JERSEY

Please correct me if I am wrong, but a high percentage of doctors who train under the NHS leave at the end of their training. Therefore, they must alreay have been security checked. Why is the UK employing junior doctors from abroad, if the ones that are being trained in the UK are not employed. Would it not be of benefit to all, if the doctors who are trained under the NHS are committed to a minimum contract after qualifying.

Paul Thomas, Limassol, Cyprus

I think it is important that patients have confidence in the medical care they recieve. Unfortunately such scare mongering headlines will only increase the hostile atmosphere in which many International medical graduates currently find themselves. Such headlines will also add to patient’s suspicions that everybody with a different skin colour is somehow suspect. Fortunately the British Public have proven themselves to be remarkably sane compared to the media and politicians and are unlikely to make such judgments and let me reassure them that the vast majority of ethnic minority and international medical graduates are highly skilled professionals who are law abiding and have contributed significantly to patient care and the National health service in this country.
Dr Jayaprakash A Gosalakkal
President UKAID

Jayaprakash Gosalakkal, Leicester, UK

I work in IRAQ

I am a UK Contractor here, If a man or woman has spent many years as a bad egg here You would never know , there is no credible background History here in Baghdad to confirm anything only hearsay! so how on earth you can do a security check on someone who isn't even from a stable country, and this includes many other arab asian countries is beyond me! i had a a background check done from CRB and they sent an incorrect search back ! according to them i had 23 convictions ! hence i lost my application and job position, someone had used my name as an alias before it was absolutely shocking.

lee , leeds, uk

So what, they didn't have them before.

Peter Dunford, Bournemouth,

I am a Junior Doctor, I start my new job in 3 working days. Despite repeated and persistent enquiries by myself, they are as yet, unable to tell me at which hospital I would turn up to work.....

Mei Nortley, London, London

I am sure this tells me dont go to the hospital, find another way of dealing with your health.

Super bugs into the bargain, me will stay away.

J Armitage, Le Taillan Medoc, france

Who could expect more?
Not exactly the most reassuring of situations-
that whilst lying in bed re-cooperating -one can reflect upon the likely hood of one's demise as a result of MRA
or ponder the likelyhood that the doctor treating you could possibly be planning the destruction of you/your fellow man!!

mike, oxford, england

I think it is important that patients have confidence in the medical care they recieve. Unfortunately such scare mongering headlines will only increase the hostile atmosphere in which many International medical graduates currently find themselves. Such headlines will also add to patient’s suspicions that everybody with a different skin colour is somehow suspect. Fortunately the British Public have proven themselves to be remarkably sane compared to the media and politicians and are unlikely to make such judgments and let me reassure them that the vast majority of ethnic minority and international medical graduates are highly skilled professionals who are law abiding and have contributed significantly to patient care and the National health service in this country.
Dr Jayaprakash A Gosalakkal
President UKAID

Jayaprakash Gosalakkal, Leicester, UK