Trust in Professions

Ipsos carried out a survey for the News of the World, looking at public attitudes to the recent email 'smear campaign' countroversy.

Doctors have been named the profession most trusted by the general public for the 25th year running, according to the latest Ipsos survey commissioned by the Royal College of Physicians. The annual poll, conducted 10 years after the Shipman case, indicates that over nine in ten adults in Britain believe doctors can be trusted to tell the truth, coming ahead of - for example, teachers, professors and judges.

Doctors still top the poll as the professionals that the public trust most. An Ipsos survey commissioned by the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) shows that doctors come out first when the public is asked whom they generally trust to tell the truth. The annual poll indicates that nine in ten adults say they trust doctors to tell the truth.

The survey was intended to enhance our understanding of the public's beliefs and attitudes on a variety of subjects; in particular the trust they place in various organisations.

MORI's study for the Statistics Commission shows that key opinion formers believe the quality of UK official statistics is up with the best in the world. Much of the criticism of official statistics is seen as unwarranted — a result of the blame culture that exists in today's political climate, and the lack of trust in government generally.

Doctors come out on top in the annual MORI poll that asks members of the public whom they trust to tell the truth, according to results released today (10/3/05) by the British Medical Association (BMA). Nine in ten say that they trust doctors to tell the truth.

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

Trust in doctors is at its highest for over 20 years, according to MORI's annual survey of trust in the professions. MORI found more than nine in 10 members of the public (92%) trust doctors to tell the truth. This is higher than the rating for any other professional group included in the survey, and the highest since it began in 1983.

Q As you may have heard or read, doctors are sometimes reported in the press or on TV in an unfavourable light...