28 June 2011

Doctors Top Poll Of Trust In The Professions

The public continues to place its trust in doctors as the profession once again came top in Ipsos MORI’s poll looking at who the public trusts most to tell the truth.

The figures were published during a special session at the British Medical Association’s annual conference in Cardiff today.

  Doctors topped the Ipsos MORI poll, with 88% of the public saying they would trust doctors to tell the truth, and a similar number (89%) said they trusted their doctor to keep their personal information safe.  

Other professionals topping the poll included teachers (81%) and judges (72%). Politicians and government ministers seen as least likely to tell the truth with 14% and 17% respectively.

  Nine out of 10 people (90%) surveyed said that they trusted doctors to act in the best interest of their patients and 91% trusted them to give them advice on improving their health.  

Commenting on the poll results, Dr Brian Keighley, Chairman of the BMA in Scotland said:   “The results of this poll are reassuring and doctors will be pleased that, at a time when the NHS is under such pressure, the public continues to retain a high degree of trust in them. The doctor-patient relationship is based on trust and without it, care would be compromised.  

“However, the ease with which our patients’ information can now be shared challenges us to come up with ways of protecting information they have shared with us. The public trusts doctors to keep their personal information safe and we have a duty to do so. If we are to maintain this trust then we must ensure that patients have confidence that their personal medical information remains confidential and that there are strict protocols in place for any health professionals who need to access this information.   

“This is a challenge for both the NHS and for the Scottish Government and we will work with them to support data sharing, within the confines of a secure system.”  

(BMcN/GK)