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

I think it’s entirely reasonable to be told the profession of the clinician you’re seeing. It’s most likely to be a physiotherapist who specialises in whatever the issue that’s presenting. A physiotherapist may well be the best person to see. They can give a programme of exercises to help with the problem. However, unfortunately, atm referral to a ‘muscular-skeletal service’ (usually a physio) is currently used as a way of managing the overwhelming volume of patients needing orthopaedic referrals- a bit of a delaying tactic. My own experience (and I’m an NHS clinician) was that I was referred to a muscular-skeletal service for assessment AfTER I’d had an MRI that clearly showed I needed a new hip! I already had a programme of physio exercises so I politely declined the referral and insisted on seeing an orthopaedic surgeon. And eventually (delayed by the pandemic) had a hip replacement and am now ticketty-boo. Good luck!

I was recently referred to a Muscular Skeletal person for my knee as doctors appointment wasn’t available. I saw the young lady couple of weeks ago and she said the first thing to do was to get an uptodate x-ray done as one on record was at least a year old and even I knew things had deteriorated. Was sent appointment to go back and see young lady o
Last Friday and she explained that x-ray showed severe arthritis of the knee and the questionnaire form I completed concerning what I could physically do or not do scored high so the Musculoskeletal young lady has referred me to orthopaedic dept at local hospital regarding a knee replacement.. The title Musculoskeletal is what it says on the tin, the person is qualified to deal with the skeleton and bones and joints therein. Thank yourself lucky you have been referred to see a professional. When I was offered the appointment I just asked receptionist if the person could do a hospital referral and she said yes, that’s all I wanted to know.

I used to work in a Musculo-skeletal clinic. All the clinicians were senior physiothrapists. It worked as a triage service so patients could be given advice and exercises and discharged or referred on for tests, to physiotherapy, to Orthopaedics or Rheumatology.
Once patients were given an appointment we knew which physio would see them as the system was set up so that all appointments were assigned to one specific clinician.
Appointments for a doctor, such as an Orthopaedic surgeon, would be for one specific consultant or another doctor in his team. In my area I am sure technology has not changed much and it is still booked in the same way.
Jess20 - maybe you could contact PALS and ask them to find out for you who you will be seeing? I hope your pain is sorted out soon.

Copied and pasted from Google. hope this helps.

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AI Overview

A clinician is a health professional who works directly with patients to diagnose, treat, and care for them. Clinicians can work in a variety of settings, including clinics, hospitals, and mental health facilities.
Examples of clinicians:
Doctors, Nurses, Counselors, Psychiatrists, Occupational therapists, Speech-language pathologists, Physiotherapists, Dentists, Optometrists, and Physician assistants.
Responsibilities
Documenting a patient's medical history
Using and maintaining medical equipment
Giving diagnostic tests
Observing vitals
Providing a prognosis from treatment progress
Creating customized treatment plans for mental health patients
Skills and traits
Clinicians need to have good listening and communication skills, empathy, compassion, and critical thinking. They also need to be able to manage their time, respond quickly, and have self-control.
Education
Clinicians typically need a minimum bachelor's degree in a pre-medical subject. Some positions require an M.D. degree

If you read back, SuperTinny you will see that Jess has been given the name of the Clinician so its obviously planned

Casdon - agree

NotSpaghetti - doubt very much the appointments team will know which 'clinician' will be allocated to a particular clinic.
It's possible they could ask the rota co-ordinator but all that takes time and as the appointments team are usually under pressure to book as many patients as possible in a given time frame they simply don't have the time to do this.

Not unreasonable at all. Maybe they don't know who you will see on the day and it's a catch-all term. When you go just say you are a bit confused. You could say Are you a physio? Then they might say no I'm a whatever. Not unreasonable.

Another one in agreement with wanting to find out exactly what type of health person you'll be seeing and I would want to know in your position.

If there's something niggling at you about an appointment then there could be a reason and you've "picked up" on it. Your intuition has told you something...

I wish I'd been a sight more questioning before I went to see a podiatrist in first half of last year. If I'd read every bit of her website in advance carefully I'd have seen a couple of clues of "something" with her. Just little things but they would have put enough of a question mark in my mind that I would have been asking for precise details, ie 1. Why does she refer to "we" and "us" when she works on her own? 2. Why does she feel free to not provide use of loo or waiting area? 3. Why does she put the word "Mrs" in front of her name - when she's a professional? 4. Why does she think it's okay to cancel appointments on the day itself so she can go and do her hobby instead (whoops - I didnt read that far down and wish to goodness I had - as I'd have realised with a bang that she's unprofessional) 5. Why did she just put my chair back (when foot people never do). 6. Why did she just tell me a strange man (not medical) would come into the room during it (ie her husband) - even though I'm a woman on my own?

Yep....even one of those questions would have warned me off her and I wouldnt have landed up with bodged toenail/pain/several subsequent (paid) appointments with other people to put right her handiwork as best possible.

So - yep...if you've got a "Why?" then ask it - rather than putting yourself at risk of months of problems and/or extra expenses. Your intuition may be telling you something..

Perhaps you weren't told the clinician's title because they don't yet know who is going to see you. There are probably several differently-qualified people who are capable of advising and/or treating you - by the time you're given a date for your appointment, they'll almost certainly know who's been allocated to your case (it may even be on the letter you should receive notifying you of the appointment). Even then, you may not know definitely - at my heart clinics, my letter would say the appointment was with "Dr So-and-so or a member of his team. Sometimes I'd see him, sometimes a team member, but none of them was unqualified for the job!

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.

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

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!!

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

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.

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

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!

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 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.

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 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

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

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

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.

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."

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.