Penalties of Suspension and Deprivation of the Right to Practice and Their Impact on the Existence of an Employment Relationship of Persons Practicing the Medical Professions

Abstract

The law regulations relating to the issue of professional liability of physicians and dental practitioners, nurses and midwives, pharmacists and laboratory diagnosticians are subjected to separate legal liability principles and proceedings. Some of the disciplinary penalties, such as a penalty of suspension of the right to practice and a penalty of deprivation of the right to practice, affect the employment relationship to which the punished person is a party. However, the legal solutions are not coherent and, hence, unjustifiably diversify the situation of the punished. In the case of physicians, dental practitioners, nurses and midwives, imposing one of the mentioned penalties provides a legal basis for the termination of the employment contract without the employer's notice, whereas, as far as pharmacists and laboratory diagnosticians are concerned, it results in the expiry of the employment contract by law. The author proposes a unification of this regulation in accordance with the current solutions adopted in the Acts referring to pharmacists and laboratory diagnosticians.