White Coat Controversy

Dr Max questions the logic behind the ban of white coats for UK doctors

- Dr Max

For years when you thought of a doctor, you thought of someone in a white coat. Yet this garment has long been consigned to the waste bin. Go on to any hospital ward now and you will see doctors wearing open necked shirts or, sometimes, scrubs. But never, ever a white coat. In fact, they have actually been officially banned in many hospitals and those who dare to try wearing one, risk being rugby-tackled to the ground and having it torn from their backs by a manager. But does the humble white coat really deserve its new-found pariah status? The truth is that the white coat has been politicised and the reason it was banned isn’t as straightforward as we’re led to believe.

White coats were banned, along with things like ties, because it was claimed that they were an infection risk. Many doctors have taken umbrage at this—not because they are being required to abide by rules, but that the rules make no sense.