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Psychiatric Bulletin (2006) 30: 314. doi: 10.1192/pb.30.8.314
© 2006 The Royal College of Psychiatrists
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Psychiatric Bulletin (2006) 30: 314
© 2006 The Royal College of Psychiatrists

Correspondence

The professional status of psychiatrists: good but not great

Jason Luty, Consultant in Addictions Psychiatry

South Essex Partnership NHS Trust, The Taylor Centre, Queensway House, Essex Street, Southend on Sea, Essex SS4 1RB, e-mail: sl006h3607{at}blueyonder.co.uk

Daniel Fekadu, Clinical Lecturer

King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, London SE5 8AF

John Gallagher, Senior Lecturer in Nursing Studies

Centre for Health and Social Care Research, Anglia Polytechnic University, Chelmsford

Okon Umoh, Specialist Registrar in Psychiatry

The Taylor Centre, Southend on Sea

There are concerns in Britain about the recruitment and retention of medical doctors, especially psychiatrists (Commission for Health Improvement, 2003). One potential explanation is that the profession of psychiatry is stigmatised (Mears et al, 2004) and neglected - mental health is still the ‘poor relation’ (Hoadley et al, 2005).

We recently conducted a postal survey of a representative panel of 412 adults who had been involved in a previous study (mean age 47.5 years (s.d.=17.3), 55% female, 42% in paid employment; Luty et al, 2006). Participants were asked, ‘We want to find out if you admire and respect the people who do these jobs. Give each profession a mark out of 10 from those you most admire (10) to those you least admire (0).’ This was followed by a list of 26 professions. The results indicate that psychiatry is one of the least stigmatised professions, ranking 8th from top of the group of 26 professions. However, psychiatry was ranked lower than other medical professions such as general practitioner (GP), pathologist and nurse.

We feel that recruitment to psychiatry is likely to remain difficult compared with recruitment to other medical specialties. However, we were pleased that psychiatrists still enjoy a rather privileged position in the eyes of the general public. The ranking order of the 26 professions was: fireman, nurse, GP, schoolteacher, soldier, policeman, pathologist, psychiatrist, social worker, farmer, judge, postman, solicitor, computer programmer, dustbin man, bus driver, car mechanic, accountant, secretary, bank manager, butcher, shop member, member of parliament, estate agent, traffic warden and car salesman.

References

COMMISSION FOR HEALTH IMPROVEMENT (2003) What CHI has Found in Mental Health Trusts. London: Commission for Health Improvement.

HOADLEY, A., PHILIP, M. & DILLON, K. (2005) Scoping the Current Problems and Solutions Relating to Consultant Psychiatrist Vacancies, Consultant Recruitment and the Use of Locums in England. London: Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health.

LUTY, J. FEKADU, D., UMOH, O., et al (2006) Validation of a short instrument to measure stigmatised attitudes towards mental illness. Psychiatric Bulletin, 30, 257 -260.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

MEARS, A., PAJAK, S., KENDALL, T., et al (2004) Consultant psychiatrists' working patterns: is a progressive approach the key to staff retention? Psychiatric Bulletin, 28, 251 -253.[Abstract/Free Full Text]





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