To ask how can I avoid getting a junior doctor at my appointment tonight?

[Alrueb]

Firstly, I've nothing against junior doctors, not at all!

It's just that I have been dealing with life-altering symptoms for over 2 years now and I have been on a huge waiting list for 18 months - just for a first appointment with a consultant.

I have questions about surgery and would rather speak to the actual surgeon, given how long I've waited.

I am absolutely awful at being assertive. It's from PTSD and it's so bad that it affects many aspects of my life, including my career. I'm having therapy to try overcome this, but it's only taking me so far. It's only recently and rarely I've been able to speak to neighbours or anything!

Does anyone have any tips on what to say or how to word things? Someone said I need to ask at reception, I'm not sure.

Thanks!!

If that’s who they’ve got available then you either see them and trust their 5 years of training, or give your appointment to someone else who’s waiting. Or pay privately and speak to someone who’s been doing it long enough for you. HTH

Junior doctors do surgery though. A “junior doctor” is anyone who isn’t a Consultant, they can be very experienced and senior, and probably do most of the operations.

This link has more information about the different kinds of doctors.

https://www.rcseng.ac.uk/patient-care/surgical-staff-and-regulation/whos-who-in-the-surgical-team/

What does your letter say? If you’ve been referred to a consultant surely you will be seen by a consultant? Not much you can do now if you’ve been waiting 18 months anyway if it is indeed booked with a junior as the slot will be with the doctor the appointment has been allocated to. Surely if you want to see a different doctor so late in the waiting list you’ll have to wait for the next available consultant appointment?

just ring and ask who it is your seeing and look them up.

Yes definitely pay private. With NHS, at best you will get a few minutes and probably a fob off regardless of the grade, you might even get a crappy nurse.

Unfortunately I think you might be a bit unaware of how things work. Junior doctors are anyone other than a consultant - specifically meaning that senior registrars (who in that speciality will also be surgeons) are also technically “junior doctors”. Without knowing exactly what your condition is it’s hard to say, but your surgery may very likely be done by a registrar, not a consultant.

You can ask, but ultimately your surgeon may not be a consultant in the end anyway.

Private means nothing depending on what it is
I was seen by a consultant at a private hospital, very nice guy
They can't do the op there, so I'm back waiting a year now for an NHS consultant appointment

You see whoever you see. If at the end of the appointment you're not happy and have a concern that you think only the consultant can address, tell the registrar what it is, and if necessary they will get the consultant in.

As has been said, a 'junior doctor' may be 15 years qualified and about to be a consultant and may well be doing your surgery.

If you only want to deal with a consultant, go privately (but of course out of hours care in private hospitals is provided by junior doctors, much less supported than they would be in an NHS Trust....)

Like pp say you may see a consultant or a specialist registrar. Your letter may say which consultant team you are under. That doesn't guarantee who your surgeon will be if you need an operation. Go to the appointment and have a bit of faith in experienced doctors or private will offer a consultant appointment

I would give a junior doctor a chance, they are sometimes even more up to speed than consultants. I have seen a few at cardiology appointments and they were more up to speed than the consultant believe it or not. Maybe it was that they were fresher out of college and familiar with more modern research, but I found them brilliant. I know it’s not always the case, but you might get really lucky with who you see and if a consultant isn’t available to see you I would definitely hear out a junior. You can always try get a slot with a consultant next time. In my experience I have always seen a junior first and they then defer to the consultant regarding the next steps. Occasionally if there has been a change, the consultant himself will pop into me to discuss but only when I paid private have I gotten to see the consultant only.

I think you may have your semantics mixed up here OP. A junior doctor can have years of experience under their belt.

Is it specifically the surgeon you're wanting to speak to? Perhaps you could give them a ring and see if one will be available/present?

To manage expectations, if its a first appointment and it's not specifically for surgery, there's no guarantee that they'll have a surgeon there but if surgery is agreed as the best course of action, you should be able to see one before the surgery date.

Good luck!

If your appointment is with a consultant then you’ll be seeing a consultant,
not a junior doctor. And in my experience you cannot skip the consultant appt and go straight to an appointment with the surgeon.

Plenty of junior doctors do surgery. Not all surgeons are consultants.

A 'junior doctor' is any doctor who is on a training pathway towards becoming a consultant or a GP. They often have a lot of experience behind them and may be responsible for training and supervising others. They're also specialists. The difference between a junior doctor and a consultant might be a single month of experience, or one exam.

Plus, there are 'SAS' doctors who are not technically 'junior doctors' as they aren't on the training pathway to becoming a consultant or a GP, but are also not consultants. Despite not being consultants, they're likely to be very experienced in their specialism, and may actually have been practising medicine for a lot longer than a consultant.

In the NHS, your appointment is with 'the consultant, or a member of his/her team'

LOL if you think you will necessarily get better medical treatment at a private hospital. Having experienced both, the only thing that was better in the private hospital was that the food was moderately nicer and I had my own room. In terms of the actual medical care I received, and the general kindness of the staff, my NHS experience was a hundred times better.

Well if your appointment is with a consultant then it'll be with a consultant. If its with someone from the surgical team then it could be a junior doctor, but they are fully qualified doctors, some of whom have years and years of experience and speciality training. I'm unsure what you're planning on asking at reception, if you have an appointment time and date you will see who is running the clinic, surely the logical thing is to attend and then if not satisfied go from there. The only thing I'd be concerned about would be that it was an actual doctor and not a PA or the like.

A junior doctor isn't just out of training. They will likely have years of experience.
What you don't want is a Physician's Asssociate because they are not doctors.

Your best bet, whoever you see, is to write down as clearly as you can, what your current symptoms are and how they affect your life. Take 2 copies - one for them and one for you.

Not necessarily. All of my appointments have "my consultant" on them, but in the ten years of being under him I've never seen or spoken to him.

OP, I think you're being a little unrealistic... if you demand on seeing a consultant, then you'll wait even longer, if they don't remove you from their list.

I think the best person to be seen by is a senior registrar who has completed their exams and will be moving up to consultant posts with their next appointment. Also, I love it when we're seen by a houseman (or whatever they're called these days) because that means that they are not currently worried about us!

IME, once the list is settled for the day, there isn't much you can do about it. So I'd recommend that you ring in advance and see if you can find out exactly which doctor. That might set your mind at rest.

(Sorry, I really don't know how you'd go about changing it if you don't)

I have had some really good consultations with junior doctors. I find them very thorough and keen to ask lots of questions. I think you're overthinking this.

I echo the sentiments above. if at the end of the consultation you feel unhappy, you can always request to also speak to the consultant.

You will meet a person who is going to do your surgery before your actual surgery. They are not going to go in blind.
However, running up to a surgery, you may be meeting a variety of people on the surgical team which may or may not include junior doctors.
When I had a surgery, I met my consultant surgeon twice - first for the initial surgical plan, and then for the pre-surgery check up (there were other treatments going on prior to the surgery so he needed to assess whether any changes had to be made to the surgical plan). In between these consultations I saw a junior doctors and a registrar for various pre-surgical procedures, to talk through consent to surgery, risks etc.
Junior doctors will not be performing surgeries fresh out of medical school, so if your surgery is performed by one, they will have all the relevant training, experience and supervision to lead one independently. If you want the surgery to be performed by a consultant (and, providing the NHS would actually let you chose), you need to prepare yourself for a longer wait.
@Valerianandfoxglovesoup I have some experience working in a private sector and can tell you that you get mostly newly qualified staff with minimal supervision in consultant-supporting roles. I wonder if you are being "fobbed off" primarily due to your poor attitude and lack of respect for staff, something you can, perhaps, smooth over with a large dollop of cash in a private clinic.

Junior doctors aren't first year students, and surgeons aren't the people who take these appts anyway. Your doctor will be able to explain surgery options- they will then refer you to a surgeon.

Hang on, you say you’ve got an appointment with a consultant? So why are you worried about her being a junior doctor? Consultants are not junior doctors, by definition.

Unless I’m missing something?

I’ve always gone private so I didn’t know this about the NHS. OP’s question makes sense now!