What is a 'clinician'? Am I being unreasonable??

I understand too.
Having waited for two years to see a Consultant, being given an appointment for the Consultant but then seeing a member of his team, I assumed the woman was a Junior Doctor.
Turned out she was a nurse; I did not find that out for another two years when I enquired where I was on thd list for a proposed operation.

It's obfuscation.

Last year, when trying to get an appointment with my doctor, or any doctor, I was told nothing was about offered an appointment with a paramedic. This seemed ok to me as it was back related. It turned out that she was wonderful, telling me more about my back problems than any doctor had and being much more amenable and friendly. From now on I don't mind what medical person I see .

Typo...... Nothing was available..

The hospital are using this phrase because they do not know who you are going to see either. It will not be decided until you turn up and they look for a space for you in a queue.

Personally, I am with Henetha. The people who finally sorted my DH's life threatening heart condition last year and got him to the situation of being chronically ill, but with a reasonable prognosis were the paramedics. I lost count of our GP and hospital appointments last year, everyone acting as if DH was a new patient, they were presumably, unable to read the medical history notes they had in front of them. The paramedics could read, saw the links, saw the overall problem and set him on the way to recovery by putting him on the right 'pathway'

I would be delighted just to get an NHS appointment.

I'm sure whatever clinician you see, scans etc. will be organised if deemed necessary. Be grateful you are actually in the system.

That wasn't meant to sound harsh, but as someone waiting for what was deemed an urgent appointment over a year ago, I would be grateful to see anyone.

Oh crumbs. An urgent appointment can be more than 1 year?
How awful for you.

I have been told I am an urgent appointment. 6 weeks ago.
Now been told it will be months for a face to face one.
I can however fill in a questionaire, and send in pictures of my skin, for the 3rd time.

I agree, I would want to know what sort of ‘clinician’ I was seeing. Who is to say the hospital hasn’t messed up the appointment and is sending you for an eye exam - don’t laugh it’s happened before!

My gets is that they don't know at this point as they have not yet

allocated which team members will be there. It's a bit like consultant appointments which give the consultants name in bold print but then say "or member of their team".

But for something like yours I'd also expect a physio with a doctor only if they can't help. It took ages tonget my son an appointment regarding his knee, it was only due to the informal intervention of one of his other consultants that he got to see a rheumatologist

Just did a google search on what a clinician is and it says they are doctors who deal directly with the public as opposed to those who work in research or labs, etc and are likely more specialised in a particular area.

When you get there smile, say hello then just politely add, 'I hope you dont mind me asking but I'm curious to know what kind of clinician you are. The surgery didn't tell me."

NO you’re not being at all unreasonable wanting to know who a Clinician is or why you’ve been referred to one! I’m the same, mistakes have been made in the past to my medical experiences to the point I’m still suffering with bone problems and always will unfortunately and you (and everyone) has the right to want to know who you’ve been referred to, what they stand for and if they are qualified. It’s your body so please do phone up the number on your appointment letter and just ask who they are and what do they treat for your own peace of mind. All the naysayers telling you just be grateful etc etc would soon be on the other side of the fence moaning if they were in a great deal of pain and it interfered with their life if they had they waited months for an appointment only to be seen by someone who couldn’t help but pass you on to another long waiting list to see someone else!
I have actually recently seen a Clinician at my surgery via my GP (who I did enquire what they were and did) who went on to refer me to another Doctor in my surgery shortly after for a steroid injection in my frozen shoulder. In your case it will probably be physiotherapy but if you feel you cannot do any physio which i totally understand because it’s to painful, me personally I’d ask to be referred to a Orthopaedic Consultant. Whatever you decide Good Luck and I hope it gets sorted soon.

In our docs surgerytheres a prescribing clinician, who can give prescriptions but cannot refer you to anywhere else- that must be a doctor.

Go privately if you’re that bothered. Don’t you know how the NHS works these days?

I 100% agree with you I think everyone should know who is treating them and it should be put on the appointment letter, they probably don’t because with all the shambles the NHS is in they probably don’t know themselves.
I was a registered nurse for over 30 years and I have been given an appointment with a Health Care assistant in the past they just make up titles for them after they have done a short course
And I’m not prepared to be seen by someone regarding my health who is not as qualified as me

I don't think you're being unreasonable or fussy to ask who exactly you are being referred to, maybe the person you spoke to doesn't know.
This is obviously a problem you've been dealing with for a while and getting nowhere. I would just go to the appt and ask the clinician when you meet them exactly whether they're a doctor, physio etc. Whatever qualifications they have or have not got if they help all well and good.

I don’t think the op is being fussy or unreasonable in any way. They very reasonably want to know what qualifications are held by the person dealing with their difficulties. It helps to prepare them for the appointment and give them some idea of what to expect. Not knowing can be really stressful. I wouldn’t want to turn up for a hospital appointment unaware of whether to expect a podiatrist, a physio a surgeon or an unqualified counsellor, all of which are possible with this problem.
They don’t say that they want to see a doctor or consultant, indeed physio and nurse are among the professionals listed in their question.

Any of the above but generally an NP, nurse and only if neccessary a GP..it's awful our practice is same but you can insist on seeing a GP but you'll probably have to wait longer. Good luck

I don't think Jess 20 is being unreasonable at all. 'Clinician' is a meaningless term, it just means someone who works in a clinic!

I would be grateful to be given an appointment to see anyone if I were in pain.

Mojack26

Any of the above but generally an NP, nurse and only if neccessary a GP..it's awful our practice is same but you can insist on seeing a GP but you'll probably have to wait longer. Good luck

I've seen a physio at my local GP, who was very thorough and knowledgeable - and gave me some exercises which actually worked.

At the time I saw him, I had another issue which was connected, but couldn't be dealt with by a physio. He went on to his computer and booked me an appointment with a GP within a few days.

I was then referred directly to secondary care and it was all sorted within a couple of months. I was amazed and very pleased.

Apart from booking privately, be pleased you'll be seen.

Better than me in a & e last week - I was told that I was the necktie to me allocated a ‘care provider’ - doesn’t even sound qualified to me!!

A clinician is someone who is qualified in their field of practice I.e nursing, physiotherapist etc. They will be registered on their disciplines practice register, having met the criteria to practice knowledgeably and safely through training, assessment and examinations

Thanks for a range of interesting comments 🙂 To clarify, when they wrote and invited me to make the appointment, I was told it was with a Clinician, which is a generic term for someone who's practicing clinical skills with patients, so I did ask what sort of clinician, for example, was the Clinician was a doctor, a nurse, a physiotherapist, a physicians associate or something else, and was told none of these. I have been given the name of the Clinician so its obviously planned. I don't really care what their job title is but I'd like to know I'm not repeating things and going round in circles - it could be a student on work experience for all I've been told. As I've already been to A&E, GP, rheumatologist, physiotherapist, nurse practitioner, injection clinic.... I'd rather like to see a specialist in my condition, otherwise it's a waste of NHS resources and my time. I'm surprised that so many people wouldn't care who they saw. If I was still working I'd have been out of commission for 8 months without getting diagnostic tests or effective treatment. Anyway, thanks for responding, I'll take it up with the Clinician (who I'm told is not a doctor or physiotherapist etc but 'a Clinician') and hope they can refer me for an ultrasound or MRI or something.