Table 2.

Categories of approaches to uncertainty inherent in nature of medical evidence by role of health professional and type of healthcare setting

Healthcare setting and professional	Focus on certainty for now and this test, with slippage into general reassurance	Weaving coherent account of medical evidence for risks and benefits, but with blurring of uncertainty inherent in evidence and impression of certainty	Acknowledging uncertainty of outcome from using intervention including inherent uncertainty of medical evidence, and coping with this uncertainty through negotiated provisional decision	Not categorised
Breast clinic:
Doctor	4	—	—	—
Nurse	1	—	—	—
Hormone replacement therapy clinic:
Doctor	—	3	—	—
Bone clinic:
Doctor	—	5	1	—
Radiographer	—	1	—	1
General practice:
General practitioner	2	7	8	—
Practice nurse	—	3	6	3
Total	7	19	15	4