ALCOHOLIC CONSULTANT
Who you are:
You are an FY2 working in the A & E.Who the patient is:
Dr Alex Moor is one of the consultants in charge of the unit. For the past few weeks,the staffs have been commenting on his atypical behaviour and smell of alcohol. Today ,after talking to him u could tell by the smell of alcohol and confused speech that he was not sober.What you must do:
Talk to Dr Alex ,discuss the problem and handle the situation ethically. You have arranged a quiet room and he is waiting for u.
APPROACH
Grips
Paraphrase
Rapport
How is work going .
How are u coping as a consultant combining work with running the department?
Commend him.
Do u av an idea why I’ve asked to speak to u?
Explain the purpose of invite
It’s been a bit difficult to arrange this meeting with u as a consultant however there’s something I’ve noticed and im a bit concerned and as a doctor who work directly under u, I feel obligated to discuss this with u.
Offer confidentiality
Please be reassured that whatever conversation we have today is
going to remain confidential… I’m not here to judge you.
I noticed you ve been smelling of alcohol the other day and again today I’ve noticed it again and I feel we should discuss it…
Would u be happy to discuss this?
Px didnt open up
Offer confidentiality again
Bring in a third party
It may interest you to know that I’m not the only one aware of this, even the staff have also been passing comment on ur behaviour today. And this may rub off negatively on u as a consultant and this makes me feel bad so I feel we should address this
And u know how this will translate into, should it get to GMC.
Offer confidentiality again
Please be reassured that whatever conversation we have today is
going to remain confidential… I’m not here to judge you
Px opens up
Well I’ve been drinking alcohol for a while……
Thanks for opening up
Apart from this alcohol have u been taking any other thing else?
How much of alcohol are u taking?
Any recreational drugs
May I know why you’re drinking alcohol?
Is this a usual habit or is it recent
Take Initiative
As my consultant I cannot query ur judgement as a doctor but may I ask if uve seen made any consultation today.
I’ll like to just go through the cases u have seen today?
Advice him to take some time off
Encourage him to discuss with his clinical supervisor
Remind him of GMC guideline on good medical conduct