Forget politicians, in doctors we trust

Abstract

Each year surveys show that politicians and journalists are the least trusted professions. It's a tough verdict, especially as both professions have their share of angels and scoundrels. Meanwhile, doctors are consistently at the top of the list, most trusted by the public. And not even the murderous acts of Harold Shipman and years of assault on the medical profession by the mainstream media have managed to shake that perception (JRSM 2009;102:223–7). Is it fair? As the list of generous interpretations of the expenses rules was revealed by the saintly pressmen of The Daily Telegraph, I did conclude – with nothing more than anecdotal evidence to support me – that the vast majority of healthcare professionals would be troubled by their conscience if they indulged in the way that politicians have. Let's take health ministers for example. While you are questioning your conscience to claim for medical indemnity insurance, professional subscriptions, mobile phone, training courses and medical journals, your decision-makers in Parliament are renovating their second homes and sprucing up their gardens. According to The Daily Telegraph, shadow health minister Andrew Lansley – my parliamentary representative, as it happens – organized an inside-and-out paint job of his Cambridgeshire home, a driveway re-shingle, handmade curtains, chair and stool re-upholster, and garden maintenance, all contributing a tidy to a tidy sum of £78,730 over four years. Not be left out, junior health minister Ben Bradshaw managed claims of £56,568 over four years for his second home. Now all these claims might be within the rules of the fees office but it's hard to see how many of those revealed by The Daily Telegraph would pass the scrutiny of the fees office in your head? I can't think of many doctors that I have worked with who would have been so brazen. Perhaps it is something to do with our medical training or the oath that we take? Perhaps I’m being naive and doctors get their kickbacks elsewhere through commercial entanglements and hidden financial interests? Perhaps doctors are paid enough in the first place? With David Cameron arguing for a fundamental overhaul of British politics, the answer could be for more trusted and trustworthy medics to take to politics? It is a decision that Jim Thornton, subject of this month's My Working Day, has already taken – and I can assure you his decision came before the expenses scandal shattered our political elite. This month he will fight for a seat on Nottinghamshire County Council, next stop the Houses of Parliament. I’d vote for Jim, he taught me at medical school and once liked an ethics essay I wrote, which seems a good enough reason to me. And so might the public, they trust doctors more than any profession. But how many of us question our conscience in our everyday decision-making? We might not fiddle our expenses but how many times each day do we abuse that trust in other ways? Financial claims are easy to measure. Quality of care is something the freedom of information act will struggle to quantify.