"Confusion in the ward"

I accompanied my relative to an ophthalmology appointment. After seeing the clinician who they presumed was a doctor, they thanked the doctor and went back out to the waiting room for the 2nd part of the process.

When asked by the nurse who they had seen, they described the doctor and staff were visibly confused. It turns out, it was not a doctor, but an optometrist. Nobody but the nurses were in uniform and when my relative used the term doctor in the consulting room, they were not corrected.

Surely this is impersonating a doctor and illegal? It is also confusing for both patients and other staff members. Surely it would make sense to have all clinical staff in uniform to prevent these misunderstandings? I can't see the difference in a nurse wearing a uniform to treat patients and the optometrists and opticians wearing a uniform and name badge. In the interests of transparency, I certainly think it would prevent confusion and also stop patients thinking and being made to believe they had seen a doctor.

My relative felt they had been hoodwinked as the clinician did not correct them when they called them doctor, this was on more than one occasion during the appointment. Disappointing.