Duty to ensure competence

I HUMBLY refer to the letter by Christopher Alexander, “Give house officers their just dues” (The Star, Oct 13). I appreciate his and many others’ (future house officers and their parents too) concern and anxiety about the training and assessment of house officers (HO) and the extension of their training period.

In his letter, the writer gives the impression that HOs are poorly supervised and that senior HOs are teaching or supervising their junior counterparts. He also has the impression that heads of departments (HOD) are very happy to fail or extend the HO’s training period without any justification.