Vol. 501 No. 3
52 Mr. M. Higgins asked the Minister for Health and Children the steps, if any, he intends to take to deal with the problem of self-treatment among doctors as evidenced in recently published research; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5962/99]
Doctors have a clear ethical obligation to safeguard their own health particularly where this may affect their ability to properly take care of their patients. Self-treatment and addiction to alcohol or drugs are recognised as posing particular threats to the health of doctors, and by extension, to the health of patients.
By definition, inappropriate self-treatment by doctors is difficult to detect and monitor. The problem may be concealed even from colleagues and spouses. Many such cases are dealt with each year by the sick doctors committee. This is an ad hoc group of medical practitioners and representatives of the GP Wives Association which attempts to persuade doctors with such problems to step back from practice and seek treatment for their conditions. This scheme works very effectively and I would like to pay tribute to the dedicated group of doctors who have undertaken this work over the years.
I have recently received a discussion paper from the Medical Council on the introduction of a more formal scheme to deal with health issues that come before the council. I will be meeting the council in the next few weeks to discuss this and other issues.
