BMJ 1994;309:1020 (15 October)

Letters

Confidential help is available

EDITOR, - Liam J Donaldson and Claudia Court drew attention to the important matter of sick doctors.1,2 They both referred to the unsympathetic attitudes of colleagues and employers when the sickness is alcohol or drug misuse.

Doctors who have an alcohol problem often live in fear of drawing attention to themselves, this fear being shared by their spouses and families. They usually do not know how and where to seek fully confidential medical help that can be trusted and regarded as safe. They fear employers and colleagues, often without cause, and they commonly most fear the General Medical Council, again probably without cause. Because of these factors the sickness may continue unaddressed, to the detriment of all concerned. This situation should not and need not arise. There is a well established way of approaching these understandable fears of discovery.

It is regrettable that neither Donaldson nor Court mentioned the British . . . [Full text of this article]


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Relevant Article

Sick doctors
L J Donaldson
BMJ 1994 309: 557-558. [Extract] [Full Text]

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