Question

You are the medical registrar on call and notice that a usually reliable senior colleague smells strongly of alcohol, is slurring his speech and is about to start an evening ward round. He insists he is fine and tells you not to interfere. What is the most appropriate immediate action?

Accepted Answer

Immediately notify the clinical director or on-call manager and prevent him from seeing patients.

Answer

Wait and see how he performs on the ward round before acting.

Answer

Quietly complete the ward round yourself and say nothing.

Answer

Report him directly to the GMC without informing anyone locally.

Answer

Ask nursing staff to monitor him and escalate only if errors occur.

Practice question

You are the medical registrar on call and notice that a usually reliable senior colleague smells strongly of alcohol, is slurring his speech and is about to start an evening ward round. He insists he is fine and tells you not to interfere. What is the most appropriate immediate action?