Well-dressed doctor in ship’s mess (8)
I believe the answer is:
shambles
'mess' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'well-dressed doctor in ship's' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'doctor' could be 'mb' (Bachelor of Medicine, Medicinae Baccalaureus) and 'mb' is found within the answer.
'well' could be 'hale' (I've seen this before) and 'hale' is found in the leftover letters.
'ship' could be 'ss' and 'ss' is found within the leftover letters.
This accounts for all the letters.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for shambles that I've seen before include "confused situation" , "Scene of slaughter or disorder" , "Slaughterhouse; mess" , "Total mess" , "Chaotic state" .)