To reject trainee surgeon?

All those people saying you can’t pick your surgeon that’s not true . I chose mine as he was recommended to me by another doctor who I trusted and told me about him . I rang my gp and they spoke to his secretary and a few months later I’d had my op

Third world people who have no other option and the trainee is better than nothing at all.

Who's children would you want the surgeon to practice on before doing your child's operation?

The supervised'students' I had practice on me had been senior resident surgeons for numerous years and had a lot of experience. The one surgery I had that was more worrying was the top consultant trying out a completely new surgery on me. Bless him he was a wonderful man, life saver but it was a total experiment encouraged by the junior doctors all of whom are highly qualified.
I think having a supervised surgery by a senior on a junior is even safer in some ways as two lots of very qualified doctors working in your child. If the consultant has any doubts he will take over.
People saying about signing . You had to sign for any surgery anyway . I have lots of copies of surgery consent forms.

Currently, within the NHS, trainee surgeons from abroad often have similar levels of experience as new NHS Consultants, I have worked in cardio thoracic theatres where specialist registrars are the lead surgeon (under supervision), how will they become Consultants otherwise

It doesn’t really matter, and if is specialised surgery it would be quite outing.

I don’t think you can dictate who does surgery unless you are paying for it. Also you will have no idea as you won’t be in the operating theatre. Either you trust the team or you don’t. If you do, you accept their judgement. If you don’t, you will have to fund the surgery privately.

So did I!

I would 100% clarify and ensure that I understand the level of experience of the doctor performing the surgery. If you are not comfortable, politely ask for someone more qualified.

It's completely reasonable to want to minimise the risk of error with complex surgery.

I absolutely understand your concern, and would be worried in your position.

But, as already stated, not a trainee.
The supervising surgeon is effectively the one operating, he will ensure everything goes to plan. If not, he will carry the most responsibility.

The only way around this, is to go private. In the days I had company health insurance, I always had the top people. Alas.

Why are people being so passive aggressive? It’s her son, some people on here get upset if their son gets a detention for smacking someone and then think a non medically trained person shouldn’t query who is operating on her son under general anaesthetic ffs? I think the best thing would be to call and ask to speak to the surgeon and ascertain the facts before you get more upset. It may be a surgeon (like you I’m not sure of the correct term) who has years of experience already but just need so many operations to be considered qualified etc. My daughter had a surgeon that was a billion years old operating on her tear ducts and he caught the back of her throat which caused some serious issues. I suppose what I’m saying is that experience doesn’t necessarily equate to competence. Get the facts and take it from there. Good luck x

Of course you can ask, they may not be able to accommodate your request though.

The NHS also allows you to seek a second opinion. I’ve had several brain surgeries and I’m aware of people who’ve changed surgeons because they didn’t connect with the first surgeon.

Some surgeries are very delicate and you have to have trust.

Scrub nurse here.
the doctor doing the surgery eill
be very experienced and under the direct supervision of a consultant the entire time, working under very tight restrictions and directions. This is the case for almost all operating theatres under the nhs. Don’t worry, your child will be well cared for and the scrub nurse will be keeping a beady eye on them all. Please speak to them again if you are still worrying, they are there to answer your questions and you can ask again before you sign your consent form.

Quoting you because where you said the OP "only wants the surgeon with Mr in front of their name" I feel you share the common misconception that only consultants are qualified for the title "Mr". Actually the person OP has misunderstood to be a "student" is also a qualified surgeon (registrar) who has passed their examinations, is a member of the college, and is referred to as Mr/Ms etc. So just correcting that common misconception. If a "Mr" performing the operation is what she wants, it's what she already has.

"Trainee" in this context doesn't mean someone who isn't a qualified surgeon. They've actually replaced the term recently with "resident" because "trainee" is confusing/misleading for the public about how qualified registrars are.

They don't let trainees loose on complex or risky cases until and unless they are extremely competent. It may be that the attending surgeon has them just watch, they may take a turn having a look down an instrument, or holding some tissue out of the way while the senior surgeon does the bit that needs the most skill. I tend to be of the opinion that supervised students tend to be the most carefully managed surgeries (I had a C section delivery that was mainly performed by a surgeon for whom it was their first delivery!) but I believe you can refuse the student. Have you got a phone number for the registrar or the consultant's secretary - why not give them a ring and ask to talk it through?

Yes it will be a registrar closely supervised and not a student. You can choose a specific surgeon if you go privately. Your son will be fine very safe. Would rather have a registrar than a Professor of Opthamology put it that way.

I have asked but the OP ignored me.

Because this is more like turning the band 6 midwife away and saying you only want the band 8 consultant midwife.

A registrar is a fully qualified surgeon with many years of experience. As I would hope you would know. Comparing them to a medical student or student midwife is ridiculous.

The UK training scheme is very long compared to most countries - up to 15 years in the UK, vs 2-4 years in the US, for example.

This whole debate is completely ridiculous as we still don't know the surgery the child is having.

It might just be a simple squint/ptosis surgery or an experimental one for a misdirection of a nerve or a replacement of a previous IOL where it needs an anterior placement/ PI.

They arent bringing in a 17 year old fresher at uni to do it 🙄

They will be an experienced surgeon who will be supervised by an even more experienced surgeon. Our daughter had this with one of her heart surgeries.

Regardless of who is carrying out the surgery, there are risks. These risks are still risks regardless if its the trainee or not.

You do have the right to choose. Your choices accept that an NHS surgical team is far far more experienced to assess someone's abilities to perform surgery, refuse consent for the operation and explain to your son how while he suffers you and what ever your profession is knew better than medical professionals or pay for the operation yourself.

You have a right to chose from what is available. I imagine with eye surgery there will be a local hospital that does it and you will have it done by their surgeons whoever is on that day. Otherwise it's private healthcare...

I was thinking the same thing.

Op, if you reject the ‘trainee’ do you get put back on the waitlist until an experienced surgeon is available?
can you little boy wait a bit longer.

It will be a registrar under the supervision of the consultant! I’m not sure what your problem is! Just remember these are our consultants of tomorrow and if your son needs further surgery in the future and there’s no one to do remember your thoughts now!