In the third shock of the year after Trump and Brexit, doctors have lost their position at the top of the most-trusted profession list.
Now, before you spit out your cornflakes in disgust and rant about people’s voting choices, just hold on.
Yes this is a poll from the people who predicted Labour winning the last election and 'remain' winning the referendum, but just like the referendum it's a message being sent.
Us doctors are still highly trusted - we are the second most trusted profession, with 91% of people saying that they generally trust us to tell the truth (nurses are at 93%), but don't forget that after first place everything else is losing.
So, we are now losers in the trust game.
What next? Ask yourselves how we lost? Run an ad in the Daily Wail? Ask for a new survey?
Nope.
Now we should collectively gird our loins and set out on a journey to the promised land of a new NHS. Either an NHS which has the money to deliver all the services the public expects and trusts to look after them in old age, or an NHS that is smaller but safe within the finances available and can be trusted as a last ditch safety net when things go wrong.
A Trump-style promise that ‘we're ok and going to be great, really great, trust me I do great,’ will be a disaster.
- Dr Chris Mimnagh is a GP in Liverpool and head of clinical innovation liaison and deployment at The Innovation Agency, the academic health science network for the north-west coast.
