Twice Drunk Driver Escapes Jail And Keeps Job

[Syd]

Nobody has claimed that she was drunk at work.
It is merely an extrapolation from the fact that whilst on bail for drunk driving she went out drunken driving again.
Anybody who is that much out of control with their drinking can hardly be considered safe at work.
The GMC certainly should be investigating.

Why. I don't think it's part of a Dr's contract that they can't get drunk outside working hours. If GMC investigated every Dr who got drunk they'd be completely swamped.

We'll have to see if the GMC do investigate (they'll have access to far more information in making that decision that a Daily Express report).

Ian

I know of a couple of ODP’s (operating department practitioners) who have lost their careers following drink driving offences. They are required to be registered to conduct their work and their governing body determined they had ‘brought the profession into disrepute’ so struck them off the register.

The GMC should be looking into this case on similar grounds.

[Bonefishblues]

Nobody has claimed that she was drunk at work.
It is merely an extrapolation from the fact that whilst on bail for drunk driving she went out drunken driving again.
Anybody who is that much out of control with their drinking can hardly be considered safe at work.
The GMC certainly should be investigating.

Why. I don't think it's part of a Dr's contract that they can't get drunk outside working hours. If GMC investigated every Dr who got drunk they'd be completely swamped.

We'll have to see if the GMC do investigate (they'll have access to far more information in making that decision that a Daily Express report).

Ian

I know of a couple of ODP’s (operating department practitioners) who have lost their careers following drink driving offences. They are required to be registered to conduct their work and their governing body determined they had ‘brought the profession into disrepute’ so struck them off the register.

The GMC should be looking into this case on similar grounds.

I understood from the thread that's what's happening via self-reporting.

[Syd]

Why. I don't think it's part of a Dr's contract that they can't get drunk outside working hours. If GMC investigated every Dr who got drunk they'd be completely swamped.

We'll have to see if the GMC do investigate (they'll have access to far more information in making that decision that a Daily Express report).

Ian

I know of a couple of ODP’s (operating department practitioners) who have lost their careers following drink driving offences. They are required to be registered to conduct their work and their governing body determined they had ‘brought the profession into disrepute’ so struck them off the register.

The GMC should be looking into this case on similar grounds.

I understood from the thread that's what's happening via self-reporting.

“Self reporting” is used in such cases a bit like a ‘guilty’ plea in court I.e. the individual hopes for a more lenient judgment. I doubt very much the GMC would be turning a blind eye if self reporting wasn’t carried out.

[mumbojumbo]

The magistrates should have referred matters to Crown Court and the CPS should have prosecuted her on a more appropriate charge.The doctors union ,the BMA should reject any attempts she makes to renew her membership,showing the same level of resilience as that displayed when resisting Bevans NHS plans.If she had any principles she should resign form her work and volunteer to help other(fellow) problem drinkers.I wonder if magistrates would be quite so lenient to a member of the "underclass"?

https://www.sochealth.co.uk/national-he ... urin-bevan

[reohn2]

The magistrates should have referred matters to Crown Court and the CPS should have prosecuted her on a more appropriate charge.The doctors union ,the BMA should reject any attempts she makes to renew her membership,showing the same level of resilience as that displayed when resisting Bevans NHS plans.If she had any principles she should resign form her work and volunteer to help other(fellow) problem drinkers.I wonder if magistrates would be quite so lenient to a member of the "underclass"?

https://www.sochealth.co.uk/national-he ... urin-bevan

It's nice that you can plan someone else's life out for them because they break the law twice.
As for the 'underclass' I see many 'underclass' D&D's in my local media being prosecuted along with other offences and not losing their jobs for it,or their lives and careers being planned out henceforth by others.
She committed two crimes,she's been punished,she may be struck off or suspended from her career.
How much more blood do some people want?

Elsewhere on the forum we debate whether drivers with 20 sometimes 30points on their licences should be allowed to drive,serial offenders with many,many convictions who just don't learn frommtheir mistakes.
It remains to be seen if this woman has learned her lesson,that's the risk society takes with offenders once they've served their sentence.
Serial offenders are a far worse case than a two time offender IMO and should be dealt with accordingly,not allowed to keep on driving when they've proved beyond doubt they can't drive within the law.

[Bonefishblues]

I know of a couple of ODP’s (operating department practitioners) who have lost their careers following drink driving offences. They are required to be registered to conduct their work and their governing body determined they had ‘brought the profession into disrepute’ so struck them off the register.

The GMC should be looking into this case on similar grounds.

I understood from the thread that's what's happening via self-reporting.

“Self reporting” is used in such cases a bit like a ‘guilty’ plea in court I.e. the individual hopes for a more lenient judgment. I doubt very much the GMC would be turning a blind eye if self reporting wasn’t carried out.

That's the wrong analogy I think.

[meic]

Actually her self-reporting was about the fact that she was convicted, rather than the underlying alcoholism that she used as her "excuse" in the court case.

[Bonefishblues]

Actually her self-reporting was about the fact that she was convicted, rather than the underlying alcoholism that she used as her "excuse" in the court case.

Do we have evidence of alcoholism as opposed to alcohol misuse?

[meic]

No, it was just my sloppy use of language.
However, I am officially considered an alcoholic by the more stringent tests, because I have a pint a night. Which is rather less than crashing a car with wine bottles rolling on the floor, or necking half a bottle of vodka and going for a spin.
So as you say, she has merely demonstrated repeated, severe, debilitating alcohol abuse over a long time period, rather than alcoholism.

[Bonefishblues]

It might appear a fine distinction, but I have a thing about labels, iyswim - too many, too freely applied IMHO

[pete75]

The magistrates should have referred matters to Crown Court and the CPS should have prosecuted her on a more appropriate charge.The doctors union ,the BMA should reject any attempts she makes to renew her membership,showing the same level of resilience as that displayed when resisting Bevans NHS plans.If she had any principles she should resign form her work and volunteer to help other(fellow) problem drinkers.I wonder if magistrates would be quite so lenient to a member of the "underclass"?

https://www.sochealth.co.uk/national-he ... urin-bevan

What charge is more appropriate for drink driving than a charge of drink driving? It's the same for most offences - someone suspected of murder is charged with murder, suspected of theft is charged with theft etc etc.

[Psamathe]

The magistrates should have referred matters to Crown Court and the CPS should have prosecuted her on a more appropriate charge.The doctors union ,the BMA should reject any attempts she makes to renew her membership,showing the same level of resilience as that displayed when resisting Bevans NHS plans.If she had any principles she should resign form her work and volunteer to help other(fellow) problem drinkers.I wonder if magistrates would be quite so lenient to a member of the "underclass"?

https://www.sochealth.co.uk/national-he ... urin-bevan

The difficult thing about forums is appreciating the specialist knowledge and experience of others. I assume you are experienced.qualified in the impacts and treat-ability of stress related alcohol issues as well as the risks out-of-working hours drinking poses to whatever medical discipline she is working in ('cos I was not even aware of what medical area she worked in).

Maybe you could tell us what would be a "more appropriate charge" (given nobody was injured and the Police described it as a "minor road traffic collision".

For me I'd rather se a problem sorted than destroy somebody's life.

Ian

[thirdcrank]

On the matter of sentencing, there are guidelines which are just that. If they were mandatory, we could manage without a court appearance for anybody admitting the charge. The court here has been in a difficult position, especially as the second offence was committed while on bail, but the ultimate issue is whether somebody of both good character and with so much at stake should go to prison. Remember, public policy is to treat prison as a last resort. She still has the convictions, which will not be ignored simply because it was a non-custodial sentence. The suspended sentence means that if she has another similar episode, this sentence will be back on the agenda, probably with brass knobs on. While custody would probably have ended her career, it's still in the hands of the regulatory authorities. I don't know what view they take, because a lot of doctors need to take more water with it, although that's often later in their career than this.

I deplore what this defendant did and a decent education should help somebody make better decisions than this. It's easy to say "You should have thought about the consequences before you had a drink" but the problem is that each drop swallowed impairs judgment.

[brooksby]

Was annoys me is the hypocrisy of the medical profession.

Had this been a Nurse or Allied Health Professional, they would have probably been suspended for struck off at the first offence

I recall taking my son - just a baby, at the time - to an out of hours service late one night. The doctor absolutely reeked of booze. My wife and I were just looking at each other, thinking "Who would we even tell about this?"

[Cyril Haearn]

Broke the law twice?

Caught twice!