A drink-driving NHS doctor has been suspended after he was caught drinking wine out of a coffee mug while at work.
Michael Farrell has now been suspended, after brazenly drinking the tipple during his lunch break at the clinic he worked at – despite having patients scheduled in that same afternoon.
The experienced doctor, from Teesside, appeared before a Medical Practitioners’ Tribunal.
It was heard that colleagues became suspicious when they noticed the smell of alcohol coming from Farrell’s room in April 2021.
This follows news that the NHS doctor was previously caught five times over the limit during a roadside breathalyser test, and refused to give a blood sample due to his phobia of needles.
The tribunal heard that on the same day Michael Farrell (pictured above) was caught drinking on the job, he quietly left the clinic through the fire exit without telling anyone and never returned
In the early hours of January 6 2019, he was stopped in his car by police after officers suspected he had been drink-driving.
Teesside Magistrates’ Court was previously told that Farrell had refused the test due to a ‘fear of needles’. He also claimed that he had been wrongly denied chance to provide a urine sample and that the process to gain his informed consent had not been properly followed.
Now, the doctor has been suspended for six months, in a hearing that concluded on February 8 2023.
It was heard how Farrell was working as a GP at Parkgate Medical Practice, Darlington, County Durham, when he was caught drinking on the job on April 15 2021.
He was scheduled to work that afternoon and due to provide care to patients.
However, that same day, the general practitioner quietly left the clinic through a fire exit – without telling anyone – and never returned back to work.
The panel heard how Adam Bonarius-Burns, the office manager at the practice, found energy drink bottles in Farrell’s room which he thought smelled of vodka.
While the GP denied drinking vodka, he admitted that he actually had wine inside a coffee cup in his clinic with his lunch, which explained the smell.
After going through Farrell’s office, Adam Bonarius-Burns, the office manager at the practice, found energy drink bottles in the doctor’s room which he thought smelled of vodka. However, Farrell rejected drinking the alcoholic beverage
At the tribunal, when quizzed over why he drank alcohol when he was due to treat patients, Farrell argued that sneaking out of the practice amounted to him ‘resigning’ so he was no longer responsible for them.
However, the tribunal rejected this claim.
They also criticised the doctor for his behavior and actions, saying that his swift exit left his colleagues in ‘significant professional difficulty’.
The panel added that Farrell’s ‘actions fell far below the standards expected of a registered doctor’ and suspended him.
They also went on to add: ‘It was clear and undisputed that Farrell had consumed alcohol… whilst [he] was still within the practice’s premises.
‘He was due to provide care to patients that afternoon.
‘[We are] not satisfied to the required standard that Farrell had resigned from the Practice when he left his post.
‘Dr Farrell left the Practice without informing anyone and headed home.
‘He chose to leave by the fire exit route rather than go through reception.’
It outlined that he had many ‘opportunities’ to inform his work of his decision to leave, but ‘did not’.
The tribunal said: ‘He had available to him many opportunities and methods to make colleagues aware of his departure if he wished to do so, but did not.
‘This potentially left patients without access to a GP appointment, at a time when they required care and had left his colleagues in significant professional difficulty.’
Farrell is currently based at the Shiregreen Medical Centre and Melrose Surgery, Sheffield.
Parkgate Medical Practice was contacted by MailOnline, and were told that the practice do not wish to comment on this.
Shiregreen Medical Centre has been contacted by MailOnline for a comment.
