British changing their Dress Code

The “superbug” referred to as MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) has British hospital officials even more concerned than the US based on their recent dress code 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.

They are referring to this as the "bare below the elbows" dress code and hope it will help prevent the spread of MRSA which is resistant to nearly every available antibiotic and can be deadly.

MRSA accounts for more than 40 percent of in-hospital blood infections in Britain and because the bacteria are so hard to kill, health care workers are focusing on containing its spread through improvements to hospital hygiene.

Hospital dress codes typically urge doctors to look professional, which, for male practitioners, has usually meant wearing a tie. But as concern over hospital-borne infections has intensified, doctors are taking a closer look at their clothing.

Neck ties are rarely laundered and many times worn daily contributing to the colonization of bacteria. They also perform no beneficial function in patient care and can therefore be eliminated.

The other measures they are taking are to eliminate fake nails, jewelry and watches.
The 2004 study of doctors' neckties at a New York hospital found nearly half of them carried at least one species of infectious microbe.

The U.S. isn’t recommending these measures as they believe there is no strong evidence that health care workers who don't wear ties or jewelry reduce the risk of infection.

Most in the U.S. believe doctors and nurses who don't adequately wash their hands pose a far bigger risk to patients and that hand-washing should be the focus of infection control efforts in hospitals, but the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention does have guidelines advising doctors and nurses against wearing artificial nails in operating rooms and around high-risk patients.

More good reasons to dress casual and save on the clothing allowance.