Doctors remain the public’s most trusted professionals, claims an Ipsos Mori poll.
The annual survey, for the Royal College of Physicians, reveals that 92% of British adults would trust a doctor to tell the truth - the highest for any profession.
Following closely behind the medical profession, trust in teachers and professors remains high and stable at 88% and 80% respectively.
Young men, aged 15 to 34, have the highest levels of trust in doctors.
Professor Ian Gilmore, president of the Royal College of Physicians, said: “For doctors to provide the best care they are capable of, both on an individual level and as a profession, it is vital that they earn and keep the trust of patients. Even though the world of medicine is changing rapidly with new developments in technology, drugs and infrastructure, it is heartening to know that the public’s level of trust in doctors has been maintained.
“This gives us a good basis to move forward into the future, where care will be a true partnership between the doctor and patient.”
More than 2,000 adults were asked by Ipsos MORI to say whether they generally trusted 16 different types of people to tell the truth or not.
Sir Robert Worcester, Founder of MORI, said: “MORI began tracking public trust in various occupations 25 years ago, and in all that time, doctors have been the one group trusted by the most people in this country. It is very difficult to do better than that, but over the years, people’s trust in doctors to tell the truth has risen from a low of 82% to these past two year’s 92% - a remarkable achievement.”
At the other end of the scale, government ministers have experienced a decline in trust, from 24% to 16%, and politicians generally have become the least trusted group.
Tags: Public trust
