Drinking on duty can get doctors suspended for 3 years: NMC draft RMP ethics Guidelines

As per the recently released Draft Registered Medical Practitioner (Professional Conduct) Regulations, 2022, the doctors can now get suspended for a period ranging from 3 months to 3 years if they are found guilty of attending patients while intoxicated.

"Use of Alcohol or other intoxicants during duty or off duty which can affect professional practice will constitute misconduct. (L3, L4)," read Section 23 of the Draft Regulations.

Apart from this, the Draft Regulations have also barred the doctors from practicing during the period of incapacity. While specifying the duties of the Registered Medical Practitioners towards their patients, Section 23 stated, "A Registered Medical Practitioner having any incapacity (induced or otherwise) detrimental to the patient or professional practice, which can affect his decision-making or skill in treating the patient is not permitted to practice his profession for the period of incapacity."

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Instances of doctors treating patients in an inebriated state have been reported several times. Although in such cases doctors used to face suspension, now NMC has introduced a uniform rule in this regard that the State Medical Councils, EMRB or NMC need to follow while probing such cases.

As per the new Draft regulations, using Alcohol or other intoxicants can result in incapacity on the part of the doctors. Therefore, NMC has declared Level 3 (L3) and Level 4 (L4) grades of disciplinary action for this kind of misconduct.

Guideline 4 of the Regulations mentions that when the State Medical Council or EMRB or NMC investigates a case, the disciplinary action will be awarded while keeping in mind the severity of the act of commission of omission.

These Regulations have graded the disciplinary actions at five levels. As per the Regulations L3 and L4 penalty "may be awarded when the role of the doctor in causing direct harm was conclusively proved and the doctor was found to have breached relevant regulation."

The suspension term for L3 and L4 level can range from a period ranging from 3 months to 3 years. So, as per the regulations, now the doctors can get suspended for a maximum period of three years in case they are found to be using alcohol or any other intoxicants during duty or off duty affecting the professional practice.