Nursing the 'most trusted profession in the UK'
Posted 05 December 2016 - 11:36
Nursing is the most trusted profession in the UK, according to a new poll.
Some 93% of people say they believe nurses tell the truth, according to a survey by Ipsos Mori.
Picture: iStock
For the past 33 years, the polling organisation has asked the public to rate the trustworthiness of professionals, defined as whether they would generally trust them to tell the truth.
Nurses – who were included in the list for the first time this year – were closely followed by doctors who have a 91% trust rating.
Least trusted
Politicians and government ministers are the least trusted with just 15% and 20% respectively of people saying they tell the truth. Politicians in general have seen a slide of 6 percentage points compared to the 2015 annual Veracity Index.
Journalists also have a low trust rate at 24% with women trusting them less – 21%, compared with 28% among men.
NHS managers were given a 48% trust rating.
Ipsos Mori veracity index survey of 1,019 UK adults 2016
- Nurses – 93% of people questioned said they trusted them to tell the truth.
- Doctors 91%.
- Teachers 88%.
- Judges 81%.
- Scientists 80%.
- The police 71%.
- Clergy/priests 69%.
- Hairdressers 68%.
- Television news-readers 67%.
- The ordinary man/woman in the street 65%.
- Civil servants 56%.
- Lawyers 52%.
- Pollsters 49%.
- NHS managers 48%.
- Economists 48%.
- Charity chief executives 46%.
- Trade union officials 43%.
- Local councillors 43%.
- Bankers 37%.
- Business leaders 33%.
- Estate agents 30%.
- Journalists 24%.
- Government ministers 20%,
- Politicians generally 15%.
Commenting on the poll, RCN chief executive Janet Davies said it was encouraging to see the efforts of hardworking nurses reflected in the eyes of the public.
‘A trusting relationship is absolutely essential in healthcare,' she told the Guardian.
'As pressures on the health service rise, it’s particularly positive that the public have maintained their faith in the frontline staff working tirelessly for them throughout these difficult times. These results highlight the critical role nurses play in the lives of people in the UK.'
The findings of the veracity index were included in a new report from Ipsos Mori and parenting website Mumsnet on the impact of the European Union referendum result, which found Brexit had an effect on trust ratings for politicians, business leaders and the media.