event information
Thursday, 5 September 2024
8:30am - 9:30am AEST
Live session through Microsoft Teams
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| Addiction affects persons from all walks of life, including doctors and other health care professionals, for whom addiction can place not only their jobs on the line, but also the health and well-being of their patients. Health care professionals have been effectively, if not expressly, discouraged from admitting vulnerability and seeking help for their addictions, in part because their colleagues have a legal obligation to make a mandatory notification to the Regulator if they have a reasonable belief that someone is practising while impaired through substance abuse. Addiction in medical professionals is an issue we cannot afford to overlook. Yet, we must also recognise that medical professionals, like any other member of our community, need support in overcoming their addictions. Currently, the system fails to encourage them to seek help, and may actively deter them from doing so. Do things need to change? Hospitals and employers have a non-delegable duty of care to their patients to protect them against the risk of being seen by doctors and nurses who are impacted by substance abuse, and need to take positive steps to deal with the risk. How is this best done? When the Board becomes aware of a health care professional practising whilst in the grips of their addiction, what steps are taken to protect the public? Join us for our next edition of The First Thursday Club, where BN’s Rob Samut will explore these critical questions and discuss the current challenges within the system when it comes to addiction in medical professionals. |