Sir, is it just me or do others feel the need for a Mission Statement for our profession?

Fashions change all the time. For a while we all wanted to be called Doctor, so we changed the name of tartar to calculus and stamped our feet. Finally the GDC agreed not to prosecute us for using the coveted title (although I believe anyone else could) and now we have reached a satisfactory muddle. Some of us are Doctor, some of us are not. Some organisations insist on the title; others deny that we are anything other than Mr/Mrs/Ms. So that is settled and clearly it is time to move on.

Now we want to be like Richard Branson and we spend our time fussing about management, marketing and salesmanship. Ethical selling, of course. Although what I really mean is Treatment Acceptance. A mission statement is a basic requirement for any self-respecting business and we really cannot go on much longer without one. It could be something like: 'We aim to improve the quality of people's lives by using our special knowledge and skills.' Could it please NOT be, 'We try to fix it as cheaply as possible'?