To dress up for doctor’s appointments?

[PollencaCalling]

Really re: classism in medicine!

Unless desperately ill I never go to see a GP/consultant etc without making sure that I’m looking well put together. Of course I’m not talking formal attire - just nice, tidy outfit and good hair/makeup. My opinion is that this way things are taken more seriously, and from experience this has been the case. Spoke about it with a friend earlier who thinks I’m bonkers!

Although it shouldn’t be the case I do think that to some extent I am justified in thinking this. Some doctors certainly do still have a class bias and I have experienced it myself. Took DD to A&E a few years ago and got quite a nasty doctor who implied that she was making it up! Once she took her coat off and revealed a hoodie from her (quite MC grammar school) his opinion of her completely changed and he couldn’t have been more pleasant or helpful. It really bothered me at the time and has stuck with me since

I think the patients most frequently facing judgement and prejudice from medics are fat people and people with mental health conditions.
Whatever you attend for some gps will decide your problem is caused by one of these even when there is no evidence of that at all. It’s an easy way to push the patient back out of the door and save time and effort.
Many fat people delay seeking medical help for serious issues because they know how they are likely to be treated by the worse end of the medical profession.
If you have any sort of anxiety diagnosis well clearly your symptoms are all in your head and not worth wasting time and money on investigation.

😂😂😂😂😂
Thanks for making me laugh so early in the morning.

I agree. It's worth dressing smartly because you'll be taken more seriously. You'll be spoken to more respectfully and you'll be listened to.

Obviously different if you're seriously ill and rushed to hospital eg in the middle of the night. But for routine/outpatients appointments, it makes a difference.

I don't really understand the people getting up in arms about this. That's life. You might wish it was different but you'll always be better off working with how things actually are, rather than how you'd like them to be. When it comes to health, why wouldn't you put yourself in the best position to get the best care?

They also have private healthcare including a private GP.

i used to work for such a family (im talking generational wealth of millions, hundreds of acres of land). My boss lived in jodhpurs and a Barbour 95% of the time but i can promise you if she had a medical appt she got changed.

This.

Retired nurse here - I totally agree, particularly if the appointment is for your child. If for you, be careful you are not maskung signs of illness, ie looking too well.

Maskung 😂That's the geordie comin' oot

That has a lot more to do with them taking men’s pain seriously and dismissing women.

I wear formal work wear to appointments with DD’s consultant. I noticed the difference in attitude when I was in jeans and trainers. In work wear, he takes me much more seriously and gives me more time and information because he thinks I’m an important person who has had to take time out of my important job.

I think it's a sign of self esteem issues.

'if I dress smart, the doctor will like me more'

A people pleasing tactic.

I think people who do this need to explore why they think this.

I agree OP. As awful as it is

Because they get treated better and that’s been borne out by experience? It’s the difference between being treated as a malingerer vs someone who’s genuinely ill.

Oh this is so very true!! I have countless examples. It’s just human nature.

I have found this to be true too, OP.

It is amazing how they somehow manage to avoid badly cut suits, ill fitting dresses and synthetic fabrics without giving a monkeys. They must have wafted into the right shops and tailors on a cloud of their own carelessness.

I'm not sure you need to go to quite the length the OP does, but being clean and having clean clothes on should be a minimum.

Because if I limped in wearing jeans and a primark t-shirt, they'd say 'it's just one of those things with getting older/have you considered you're depressed/you need to keep yourself busy at home and walk to the shops occasionally/have you heard of something called fibromyalgia?' - but when I limped in wearing work stuff 'oh, we need to investigate further - you have psoriatic arthritis, have physio and some incredibly expensive biologic medication.

But they will ask do you work and what is your job at that point if it's a fancy job they will offer more even if you were in a primark tee.
They will see the address on the screen and hear the accent. They can ascertain socio economics from more than clothes.
And if the patient is fat, none of it matters they will always be told to go away and lose weight which is absolutely true buuuuut as well as weight loss they might still need other help or tests.

I rather suspect that my GP takes me seriously because they very rarely ever see me, rather than because of what I am wearing. I have never in my whole life not been taken seriously by a doctor, and I just wear whatever I am wearing at the time when I go to the appointment.

A lot that visit the GP go because of a something that needs looking at but doesn't make them feel ill, I went recently for a suspect skin cancer, DH goes for blood pressure or asthma, so there is no need to go dirty or scruffy because you are not feeling well and can't be bothered to dress properly. In fact you should consider more how you dress so it is easy to look at what is wrong with you.

You have a lot of control over how others behave towards you. This includes clothes, voice, facial expressions, eye contact and body language etc. It is the opposite of people pleasing, it is getting what you want out of people and making them please you.

As a well spoken, well presented person it never fails to amaze me that my GPs (and many other doctors) think they can call me Roses whilst expecting me to call them Dr (or sometimes Mr) Super-Superior. Nurses do it too, "hello Roses, you're here to see Dr Super-Superior".

When HCP's afford patients the same level of respect and courtesy doctors feel they should command, all patients may have a better crack at receiving optimal care.

I don't care how important a Dr thinks they are. If he or she thinks I am going to afford them the respect and courtesy of their title, they may use mine. That goes whether I arrive in my gardening clothes or a cashmere Jersey and pearls. There is almost always a little blush when I say "oh, I didn't catch your first name", "or you may call me Mrs Hellebores".

The profession contains too many arrogant arses but they may stop treating the patients ingrates quite so reductively when the NHS stops being free at the point of delivery. I don't get the same level of nonsense from professions for whose services I pay directly.

You're reason is slightly different i think .. you don't want them to think you're not a good mum (not those words exactly just my interpretation of what you said) and the ops idea is you get better care if the doctors think you've got money/are in a higher class. Gosh ppl in deprived areas must be dying in their droves.

Aren't they just called doctor most of the time? Or the doctor. I can't remember calling a Dr anything if I'm honest. In an appointment with them I don't need to use their name or title. I say hello and sit down for the appointment.
If you'd rather the Dr called you Mrs or Ms xyz then just ask them.

This sort of thing has never happened to me. I have never felt less listened to because I don't wear 'work clothes'. I have never worn smart work clothes.
GPs ask what you do (as part of them getting a full picture of the person in front of them). It's a shame you've been met with less than professional doctors.