Public Still Regards Doctors As The Most Trustworthy Group

The public's trust in doctors remains extraordinarily high despite the Shipman trial.

In the first opinion poll since the conviction for murder of the Manchester GP, the public has given doctors a huge vote of confidence by rating them the most trustworthy of a number of occupations. Eighty seven per cent of those polled said they would generally trust doctors to tell the truth. Second came teachers (85 per cent), followed by clergymen and priests (78 per cent), judges (77 per cent) and professors (76 per cent).

Although the figure for doctors is four per cent less than in a similar poll last year, most of the 16 occupations show a decline, six of them significantly so.

When asked how well or badly doctors are doing their jobs and reminded of recent media reports about the Bristol surgeon inquiry and stories about doctors helping people to die, 89 per cent of those polled replied that doctors were doing very or fairly well. This compares to 90 per cent last year when a similar question was asked.

Asked to say how satisfied or dissatisfied they are with the way that various people are doing their jobs, 90 per cent said they were very or fairly satisfied with doctors. Only nurses scored higher with 95 per cent.

Commenting on the poll findings, Dr Ian Bogle, chairman of BMA Council, said: 'I am delighted but not surprised that the public retains such confidence in doctors. The doctor patient relationship continues to be the bedrock on which our health care is founded and doctors work hard to earn the public's trust.'

Michele Corrado of MORI said: 'It is clear from these findings that the Shipman case has barely dented public confidence in doctors. While the fall is statistically significant, confidence in doctors still comes well above that which we predicted, and other professions, such as teachers and professors, show similar falls from almost the same level'.

Q For each of these different types of people would you tell me if you generally trust them to tell the truth, or not?

Q How satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the way the following types of people do their jobs?

Q As you may have heard or read, doctors have been reported in the press or on TV recently in an unfavourable light, e.g. the Bristol surgeon inquiry and stories about doctors helping people die. Thinking about those stories, how well or badly would you say that most doctors do their job nowadays?

In 1999 the question began: As you may have heard or read, there has been a lot of media coverage recently about doctors making errors or taking advantage of their position.

Technical details

The opinion poll was conducted by MORI on behalf of the BMA. A total of 2,072 adults aged 15 and over were interviewed face-to-face during the period February 3 to 7 at 156 sampling points throughout Great Britain. All interviews were conducted in-home using CAPI (Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing). Data have been weighted to the known profile of the British population.