Medical students at the British Medical Association's medical students committee annual conference have called for health professionals to be subject to random alcohol and drugs testing at work.
Mr Joseph Footitt (chairman of the conference) said on March 28: "Doctors have a duty to give the best possible care to their patients. If doctors are under the influence of alcohol or an illegal drug when at work, their performance is likely to be impaired and patient safety put at risk. We believe that by introducing random testing of doctors and health professionals, patients will be reassured that their lives are being placed in the safest of hands."
The BMA and other medical organisations published a report in 1998 into the misuse of alcohol and other drugs. It estimated that one in 15 doctors in the UK suffer from some form of alcohol or drug dependence during their life time.