British hospitals are planning to no longer allow health staff to wear neckties, long sleeves and jewelry, in an effort to stop the spread of hospital-borne infections.
The new regulations, published Monday, would mean an end to doctors' traditional white coats, Health Secretary Alan Johnson said. Doctors will instead have to wear disposable plastic aprons.
Artificial nails, jewelry and watches are also out because they too could harbour germs, the department warned.
Johnson said the "bare below the elbows'' dress code, which comes into force next year, would help prevent the spread of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA.
Known as a "superbug,'' MRSA is a deadly bacterium resistant to most antibiotics. It accounts for more than 40 per cent of in-hospital blood infections in Britain, and is also found in hospitals in North America.
"The whole of the profession is focused on this and understands the importance of complying with it," Johnson said.
Male doctors often wear ties to look professional, but the Department of Health warns they could harbour disease-causing germs.
"Ties are rarely laundered but worn daily,'' the Department said in a statement. "They perform no beneficial function in patient care and have been shown to be colonized by pathogens.''
Canadian infectious disease specialist Michael Gardham agrees ties are a problem. He doesn't wear one when seeing patients.
" When you're examining someone's wound it's in the way. And then you flip it over your shoulder and it gets contaminated," he explained to Â鶹´«Ã½.
Canadian hospitals have no plans to bring in similar regulations here. Gardham says for now, most health authorities are still struggling to get all health care workers to wash their hands between patient visits.
"The reality is that we are still a ways from that," he says. "We're not even getting our health care workers to wash their hands, let alone remove the rings, let alone remove their bracelets."
Dr. Dick Zoutman, physician director on the board of the Community and Hospital Infection Control Association, or CHICA, in Canada, says the British decision on neckties has "real merit,'' and Canadians should take a good look at the idea.
