Does drug and alcohol and abuse impact the medical negligence compensation bill?
With speculations that in some overstretched areas of the UK health service, junior doctors may be given too much responsibility, it is worth considering the unusual amounts of stress they experience. This stress is leading to some worrying consequences, namely, excessive consumption of drink and drugs.
While there is no data available on the subject, it is a reasonable proposition that this phenomenon may be a factor in the millions of pounds of medical negligence compensation paid out by NHS trusts each year.
One study of junior doctors working in England's northeast found that of the 93% of junior doctors who do drink, 60% did so in dangerous quantities. Their reasons for doing so are clear. Stress, anxiety, depression and the simple motive of pleasure all play a part.
The acuteness of anxiety experienced by many junior doctors has been a real cause of concern for their peers. 45% of female junior doctors and 21% of their male counterparts report experiencing levels of anxiety classified as being "pathological".
Unfortunately, many junior doctors are also consuming illegal substances. 11% are self-confessed regular users of cannabis, while a further 13% admit being current users of drugs such as ecstasy, LSD and cocaine. In a surprising finding, the consumption of both drugs and alcohol is significantly higher in junior doctors than it is in medical students, making it hard to avoid the conclusion that occupational stress factors play a part.
This may be relevant to the NHS's medical negligence compensation bill on account of the reason that all these factors stress, alcohol consumption and drug use are proven to impair judgement.
Dr Patrick Dixon, author of The Truth About Drugs, believes that the problem is not isolated to junior doctors and offers the following analysis, "With around 10% of all doctors either intoxicated or withdrawing (from drugs or alcohol) we are faced with the fact that significant numbers of doctors have impaired judgment because of addiction."
He has even gone so far as to suggest random drug testing for all medical professionals in order to curb the problem.
The British Medicine Association, however, believe that this measure would only be dealing with the symptoms of the problem, while at the same time impinging on basis civil liberties. A spokesperson from the BMA's junior doctor's committee commented, ""We have not seen evidence that testing all these groups of health professionals is necessary, or that it would be effective. It is better to look at the reasons why."
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