By the way...Scruffy doctors don’t inspire confidence

WE ARE witness to an emerging trend in the field of medicine: sloppy dressing among hospital doctors and GPs.

This was highlighted last week when inspectors at one NHS hospital reprimanded junior doctors for their shabby attire, with some medics even performing ward rounds in ripped jeans.

When I read about this, I was not the least bit surprised — this trend first started among GPs when ‘groovy’ teaching practices started to encourage their partners to dress down so patients wouldn’t feel patronised or daunted by the formality of business suits and ties (what you might call a conservative, oldfashioned style).

And so we had the open-necked shirt and chunky sweater look instead for men, while women took to wearing trousers more. Meanwhile, in the hospitals, white coats were banned (was it the cost of laundry or the bugs they were said to carry?) and short-sleeved shirts became the order of the day. Stethoscopes were slung casually around the neck, instead of being worn in the traditional way with the ear-pieces around the back of the neck.

The problem with all this is the relentless slide downhill through casual clothing into frank scruffiness — paralleling (for hospital doctors at least) the loss of traditional ‘firms’.

These teams, led by a consultant with a hierarchy of registrars and housemen on the ladder below, meant senior doctors could train and set an example to their apprentices, to instil in them a sense of gravitas and discipline.

One view might be that what a doctor is wearing — in hospital or in general practice — is irrelevant compared to how consultations with patients are handled, and what is achieved. Communication is far more important than whether or not the doctor wears a tie, one might argue.

But a more traditional view — to which I subscribe — is that we are engaged in the administration of a serious professional service. Dressing cleanly and smartly is part of paying respect to the individual who is placing their trust in us.

This might be old-fashioned, but it does not mean that formal, traditional dress is necessary; merely clothing that is dignified, respectful, clean and suitable — hard to define but something that we can all recognise.

It is paying that respect that is the first part of making the care of the patient our most important concern.

Yes, a doctor’s appearance really is crucial to gaining a patient’s trust.