Employer's orders and due diligence of a doctor practicing his profession under an employment relationship (part I)

Abstract

The possibility of combining the status of a professional doctor with the employee status,
allowed by the legislator, means that the professional independence of a doctor-employee is not absolute.
Despite his substantive independence, the doctor-employee is included in the organizational structure of his
employer.
However, while in a typical employment relationship the limits of an employee's freedom are determined
by the employer's official orders, in the case of doctors employed under an employment contract,
they also result, and even primarily, from current medical knowledge, available methods and means
of prevention, diagnosis and treatment. diseases, professional ethics and due diligence.
Although employing a doctor under an employment relationship involves a significant limitation,
but does not completely exclude the employer's managerial rights. Against this background, there may
be a conflict between the employer's order and the statutory directives that every doctor should follow
when undertaking professional activity. However, resolving this type of conflicts is not possible without
first defining the scope (limits) of the sphere in which doctors, including those employed under an
employment relationship, are entitled to a statutory guarantee of substantive independence.
Outside this sphere, the employment status of doctors will not differ from a typical employment
relationship, so the doctor will be subordinated to the employer's orders, just like any other employee.