How do you like your 'professionals' to dress?

I don't really care what they wear to be honest I'm more interested in how they behave and what they say.. But for some reason I find a doctor dressed informally much easier to talk to than one wearing a suit and tie.

Another one with Flexible friend here. It is medical competence that is important to me. The rest is window dressing imho, although I accept others have differing views. The best trauma consultant I ever worked with was a scruffbag but he was and inspirational leader and excellent clinician. We all had total confidence in him and I learned so much from him

I've had regular hospital appointments over the last 25 years with the same consultant until he moved recently. He was dressed smart/ casual and more importantly had my absolute trust. Mostly the GP's at the local practice are dressed casually but I've not seen anyone wearing geans though.
My DiL is a hospital Registrar and has done her last consultant's exam recently. She is always smartly dressed but not overly so. She's very good at her job and that's the main thing isn't it? The staff who work in the dept will ask for her first rather than the consultant.
Occasionally when introducing herself to a patient, the said patient will ask to see the doctor.
DiL 'I am the Doctor'
Patient ' But you're a woman'

Kitty I wouldn't mind the t shirt etc but I'd hate to be called 'dear'.

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Doesn't bother me how people dress, as long as they are clean and tidy, act in a professional manner and know their job

I didn't mind the t shirt though it could have done with an iron!

It was DH who was bothered but he did wear (stripey blue) white coats for 50 years.

A man I knew was hospitalised with manic depression. More than one other patient told him that when they were suicidal in hospital they did not know who to go to for help as the nurses dressed casually just like the patients.

I do not mind what they wear (or whether they are still in nappies!), as long as they do a competent job politely and with compassion.

At one time doctors were told not to wear ties in hospitals because research had shown that they were a potent source of cross-infection as they trotted from patient to patient; and I confess (at risk of being slaughtered) that I do feel concern about the flowing garments and head gear that some doctors wear. If a tie can carry bacteria etc, so can these garments - more so, I would have thought.

Ducks below parapet!

The general opinion that has emerged from this discussion is that patients do care how the professionals appear to patients. The same general opinion I assume applies to the decor of the medical centre or the hospital.

Would any gran here like a medical centre or hospital that was got up to look like some old granny's bedroom or sitting room?

What the general opinion is that medical personel should dress with a view to hygiene and modesty without looking like stuffed suits, or office workers of any grade.

Clothes have changed over the years. I’m a holistic therapist and twenty years ago I wore a suit when seeing clients...now I might wear some (smart) jeans. Everything is less informal and it doesn’t bother me. However, I would never call anyone ‘dear’. That bothers me more....I think it’s patronising.

My doctor could be stark naked....but I’d she/he knows what’s wrong with me and cures me with the right medication I couldn’t care less. What nonsense going on about what folk wear.

I'd imagine a holistic therapist in a flowing Bohemian dress and long hair and well aware of not being patronising.

Clearly, hygiene is an issue but, beyond that, professional people should dress professionally. Scrubs rather than scruffs!

I want to see my ‘professionals’ in clean clothes but would rather they were casual than a formal suit, I want to be able to talk to them not feel I am in an interview.

Forget about what they are wearing as long as they are good at the job. I was a nurse in the days when doctors used to wear white coats. They were often really dirty white coats!
Then they wore suits and their sleeves and ties used to touch people before they moved on to the next patient, and the next patient!
Now they wear either short sleeved tops and if they are wearing a tie they tuck it in their shirt so it doesn’t touch people. They even wipe their stethoscopes between each patient. When we were in NZ the doctors wear shorts and t-shirts or scrubs. Scrubs can be thrown into the laundry at the end of every shift.
I think it’s more about hygiene and reducing the risk of cross contamination than if they look nice!

This is something that I have never thought about so I don't think it is important to me. I go to see a doctor very occasionally. I know they are a doctor but can't say I have ever thought about what they were wearing.

My young doctor wears casual trousers and an open necked shirt. He is kind confident and very competent. When my husband came into the surgery with me today he shook his hand and introduced himself and gave us all the time we needed. To me that is all I needed

I’ve just returned from gp visit and was NOT impressed to see a receptionist with several facial piercings. Traumatic visit though, as an elderly patient died in the waiting area which was cleared.

I wish doctor's would still wear white coats. I wouldn't mind what they wore underneath.

I realize society has changed; it is not so formal as it was in the past. As long as doctors are tidy that is good enough for me.
When my husband was in a busy city hospital for bypass surgery it was sometimes difficult to tell if someone was a nurse, doctor, or lab technician (blood taker). But they all introduced themselves so no issue.

Men, to the left and women reasonably modestly.

Most of all I want them looking clean and tidy, wearing clothes that can be washed daily, for hygienic reasons. Apparently ties are horribly unhygienic!
Most of all I want them to look at me, not their computer screen when they are talking to me. God help anyone who dares to call me "Dear"! I may be 67 now but I was shipping steam engines round the world at 23, and used to ride a road racing motorbike in hot pants and a midriff top, skinny dipped in the Indian Ocean, drove 9,000 miles once to go to a steam rally. As I was born on Feb 29th, I only want to admit to the number of leap year birthdays I've had - I'll be 17 next year!

I do miss the doctors' white coat and nurses' starched cap and apron! I guess the GP can wear his/her smart casual clothes, but in hospital it's hard to know who's who. I still don't understand the reason why the white coat was scrapped.

They can wear what they like as long as they are competent and approachable

I think many people have made the point about hygiene, and it's an important point.
When my daughter was training, she never wore a white coat, just a name badge pinned on to her clothes, now I realise why, the white coats carried infection.
When she qualified and was doing her F1 and F2 years in hospital, she always wore scrubs, and they were laundered daily by the hospital laundry. Again much cleaner. She told me she washed her hands regularly but she wasn't able to use the hand gel provided, she was very allergic to it.