Neckties, Jewelry Banned for UK Doctors

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Neckties, Jewelry Banned for UK Doctors By RAPHAEL G. SATTER

The Associated Press Monday, September 17, 2007; 10:51 AM

LONDON -- British hospitals are banning neckties, long sleeves and

jewelry for doctors _ and their traditional white coats _ in an effort

to stop the spread of deadly hospital-borne infections, according to

new rules published Monday.

Hospital dress codes typically urge doctors to look professional,

which, for male practitioners, has usually meant wearing a tie. But as

concern over hospital-born infections has intensified, doctors are

taking a closer look at their clothing.

" Ties are rarely laundered but worn daily, " the Department of Health

said in a statement. " They perform no beneficial function in patient

care and have been shown to be colonized by pathogens. "

The new regulations would mean an end to doctors' traditional

long-sleeved white coats, Health Secretary Alan said. Fake

nails, jewelry and watches, which the department warned could harbor

germs, are also out.

said the " bare below the elbows " dress code would help prevent

the spread of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA,

the deadly bacteria resistant to nearly every available antibiotic.

Popularly known as a " superbug, " MRSA accounts for more than 40

percent of in-hospital blood infections in Britain. Because the

bacteria is so hard to kill, health care workers have instead focused

on containing its spread through improvements to hospital hygiene.

A 2004 study of doctors' neckties at a New York hospital found that

nearly half of them carried at least one species of infectious

microbe. In 2006, the British Medical Association urged doctors to go

without the accessories, calling them " functionless clothing items. "

The dress code comes into force next year.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/17/AR2007091700573.\

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