SMILING at work. Who does it? Hopefully all of us sometimes, although maybe not every day.

So pity the nurses and doctors at Worcestershire Acute Hospitals who have have been asked to smile more at patients.

To be fair it’s not just smiling, they are required to be professional, compassionate, alert and courteous.

All sounds reasonable so far?

Yes but apparently an innovation agency (what?) has presented a scheme called Active Caring for Everyone (ACE) to NHS leaders.

The scheme suggests members of staff carry an ACE card to brandish at colleagues they feel are not up to scratch using the words, ‘You didn’t play your ACE card.’ Right.

Well I just hope A and E is not full on the day they start that scheme.

Call me unreasonable – unACE perhaps – but I’m not sure how many of us would be able to respond to that sort of supercilious criticism from our workmates with a sweet smile.

So, rightly or wrongly, I think the reply might be along the lines of, ‘You know what you can do with your ACE card.’ It’s more the fact that the powersthat- be feel this is necessary that is quite shocking.

Doctors and nurses belong to a caring profession so you would not expect them to have to be coached in how to be caring.

That said, we’ve certainly all met health professionals whose bedside manner leaves a lot to be desired.

Although I have noticed GPs have recently started saying things like, ‘What were you hoping for from this appointment?’ A ridiculous question to which there is only one answer. ‘I wanted you – my doctor – to tell me what is the matter and make it better.’ If standards of care need to be improved then it’s good action is being taken, but is smiling really the answer?

We love to stereotype doctors and nurses as angel figures and patients as grateful recipients.

They can be but health professionals can be as overworked, tired and stressed as anyone and patients, like many ill people, can be bad-tempered, angry and bitter.

In my view, doctors and nurses don’t have to smile at you to make you feel looked after.

They just have to show – in all they do and all they say – that they have your best interests at heart.

I’m not sure a scheme can teach that.