DZ was
interested to read this article about a nurse who was struck off the Nursing
register for consuming alcohol at work.
Now, I’m not
going to condone or defend her conduct. Drinking on duty is most definitely
frowned upon for medical and other professionals in the UK and I think that
that is understandable.
But it wasn’t
always so.
My first
ever job as a pre registration houseman was at an inner city hospital. There
was a pub literally next door. It was not at all unusual for entire teams of
doctors on duty to take advantage of the odd quiet spell and meet up in the pub
for a beer. The landlord graciously allowed doctors to use his personal
landline phone (There were no celphones in those days) to contact the hospital when
they were bleeped. There was even a suggestion that a hospital phone be laid on
for this purpose, but though considered, it did not materialise. But the
management were perfectly aware of, and unconcerned about the practice.
And then
there was Christmas. Through the year grateful patients would often donate
small gifts to the staff when they went home. The two commonest gifts were
chocolates, or a bottle of some alcoholic beverage.
It was remarkable
how quickly a box of chocolates could disappear in the presence of nurses. Some
things don’t change. But alcohol was locked away. At Christmas it would come
out, and a small number of bottles would be available in the sister’s office
for ward staff and doctors to sample. Again this was common knowledge, and
tolerated.
Not by
everyone it has to be said. One teetotal ultra religious consultant one year
took all the bottles on his ward and emptied them down the sink!
And in
France, until relatively recently, wine was available to hospital staff having
lunch in the hospital cafeteria. This now appears to be coming to an end
however.
DZ will
certainly confess that throughout his career, when on call from home he would
often have a beer or a wine, though always careful to stay well below the
driving limit.
In all my
years I never saw anyone abuse the privilege. I never once saw anyone drunk on
duty.
