Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

I’m a GP receptionist and prepared to be honest about my job.

545 replies

TwistedSisterUK · 20/03/2022 10:22

Hi all, as title says, I’m a Gp receptionist. After reading all the irate, insulting, rude and misinformed threads on here I have made this account!

Please feel free to ask me anything and I promise to answer honestly, even though my opinions and thoughts are likely to make me very unpopular here. I’m prepared for it , having read dozens of previous threads where we are called lazy, rude, power mad, bitches and more…..

I have done this job for 12 years, it’s hard work but can be at times extremely rewarding . I work with a great team. My opinions are only about my job, my day to day dealing at the surgery I work in.

First of all, to the ppl who think we just answer phones and ask patients to please take a seat - I wish!! Lol.

I deal with chemists, pharmacists,hospital secretaries, emails, post, 100s of clinical letters and test reports, arrange all referrals, do all test requests, type all clinicians letters, new patient files are refilled, files from patients leaving must be found and returned, clinical letters received are scanned , coded and actioned, translators requests, letters to be typed up and patients to be called to arrange reviews, Imms,smears etc, the loaning out of medical equipment - there’s lots more but hopefully you are getting the idea that my job involves far more than answering the odd call.

So, the bits you, the patients see and hear are a small bit of my job.

I have to go out today but will be happy to answer any questions any of you may have but I’ll start the ball rolling here about the “ magically appearing appointments “.

I read a lot of complaints here that you call and there are no appointments….then….lo and behold,….after more conversation an appointment is found! This is because I can put it down as an urgent call. If it is NOT an urgent call I will be reprimanded by my manager and if this continues I would possibly lose my job.

I am simply not allowed to continually add more and more patients to be added as “ extras” They are called extras as there genuinely are no appointments left.

When I return I’ll move on to the why we ask the reason for your call! Please be assured I do not think myself in anyway medically trained nor do I even like asking - I have to ask - it’s my job.

I promise any questions or comments will be answered in all honesty! I’m wearing my hard hat…..lol

OP posts:
NellGwynne · 22/03/2022 10:23

@Welshdad1978

Well I’ll give my experience from GPs and receptionists recently having had covid and hospitalised with it. I was told to go to my GP as next steps in my recovery. I phone up only to be hung up on by a rude receptionist who must have been having a bad day. It was only a few days after being discharged at that and struggled to get my point across which is what probably led to a talking down to. Then when I did finally manage to get a GP appointment, it was a generic telephone consultation a few weeks later. I was still very ill at that point and because my job is not manual, I was told I could go back to work there and then. Luckily for me even my employers knew I wasn’t in any fit state at that particular time to go back to work. They may as well have been my GP practice instead. I may also be a diabetic now with high blood sugar readings since covid. I don’t know this from a GP though. I get there are two sides to everything… but felt a need to say of my own personal experience on this thread. Maybe that receptionist and GP gave themselves a bad name but they let me down massively in my hour of need. Needless to say I feel reluctant to ever use one again now. No matter what is wrong with me it’s put me off completely. I do feel some GP practices are hiding behind aggressive receptionists when it comes to covid aftercare as part of a tactic to minimise their workload. I was only following up instructions from being discharged from hospital as it was. In my hour of need let’s just say I’ll never forget that. The NHS direct whilst in hospital though were fantastic by comparison.
My brother nearly died of Covid. I phoned an ambulance for him as he lives on his own in a very rural place. The nurse I spoke to was useless. She seemed to think if he wasn’t recovered after a week after contracting Covid he had long Covid and should just get on with it. When he was taken in at my insistence the doctor said he would have died if I hadn’t called an ambulance. It’s very lucky he actually answered the phone when they called him. He was barely conscious at that point . Unless they spoke to him he wouldn’t have been taken into hospital. The whole system is ridiculous.
Swedenandnorway · 22/03/2022 09:30

Kjpt140v

What a silly reply.

Says the poster who doesn't make any reference whatsoever to which reply on 18 pages of replies.... Hmm

Welshdad1978 · 22/03/2022 09:28

Well I’ll give my experience from GPs and receptionists recently having had covid and hospitalised with it. I was told to go to my GP as next steps in my recovery. I phone up only to be hung up on by a rude receptionist who must have been having a bad day. It was only a few days after being discharged at that and struggled to get my point across which is what probably led to a talking down to. Then when I did finally manage to get a GP appointment, it was a generic telephone consultation a few weeks later. I was still very ill at that point and because my job is not manual, I was told I could go back to work there and then. Luckily for me even my employers knew I wasn’t in any fit state at that particular time to go back to work. They may as well have been my GP practice instead. I may also be a diabetic now with high blood sugar readings since covid. I don’t know this from a GP though. I get there are two sides to everything… but felt a need to say of my own personal experience on this thread. Maybe that receptionist and GP gave themselves a bad name but they let me down massively in my hour of need. Needless to say I feel reluctant to ever use one again now. No matter what is wrong with me it’s put me off completely. I do feel some GP practices are hiding behind aggressive receptionists when it comes to covid aftercare as part of a tactic to minimise their workload. I was only following up instructions from being discharged from hospital as it was. In my hour of need let’s just say I’ll never forget that. The NHS direct whilst in hospital though were fantastic by comparison.

Kjpt140v · 22/03/2022 09:15

What a silly reply.

Maggiejardine · 22/03/2022 09:11

Thank you for your insight into the receptionist role and for all the work that you do for your patients and the medical staff.
I’m sure that there are some receptionists who are not suited to the role due to poor communication skills or training. But in my experience most do a sterling job against the odds. It is surely the system, decades of underfunding and increased patient expectations that is the core problem. It must be a minefield to navigate through all this while trying to explain to an anxious caller why there are no appts that day. You are entitled to the utmost respect for the job you do and you certainly get that from me

Lemonyfuckit · 22/03/2022 09:07

@iloveeverykindofcat

Please can you explain how this sort of thing happens? Prepare for a bit of a novel, but I promise that the following is a true account. I'm not blaming anyone, and I'm sure everyone thought they were doing what they were supposed to, I just literally don't understand how this sort of thing goes on, especially given the colossal waste of time and resources for everyone involved.

A while ago I was briefly in hospital after an acute illness. When it looked like I was getting better, the doctor uhhmed and ahhed a bit then said 'Well, I'll let you go home now, but you must definitely get a followup blood test from your GP in the next few days/next week at most'. Okay great, I said, and got discharged. So I phoned my GP the next day who said 'We can't do that, the hospital should have given you a form with written instructions for the test'. Okay, I said, I phoned the hospital back. The hospital didn't know who I was at first (understandably), but after much delay, eventually got back in touch to tell me that no, my GP had to order the test (I knew generically what test it was - a liver health test - but not if it had a specific name or anything). So I went back to my GP. No, says (a different) GP, the hospital must order it. Eventually I went physically to the hospital and did, after much palaver, walk out with a form. My GP then tells me they don't have the facilities, but if I go to X hospital, they can give me an outpatient appointment for the test. X hospital says no, ask your GP. It continues in this vein for several more days. I contemplate giving up, reasoning that if anything were that wrong a) I'd be dead by now or b) someone would have noticed. Bear in mind it takes about five phonecalls to get through to anyone for each of these installments.

The end of the saga is that I got the tests as an outpatient in the other hospital. They sent the results to my GP. The GP then said they couldn't tell me the results because of data protection.

I asked if he could see the results on his system.

He said yes.

I said please tell me the results.

He said well I shouldn't, but they're okay.

I truly felt that I had entered a Kafka novel. I work on a large international research project myself with a lot of moving parts and different organizations/stakeholders so I understand a bit of miscommunication, but nothing at the levels I've described. I'd be fired. Someone would be fired, anyway. And if I - as a reasonably healthy - reasonable sane adult with a support system seriously considered giving up on the process I can only assume that vulnerable people do all the time. What exactly happened here? Why? How?

This sounds bizarrely like deja vu - I swear an extremely similar situation re needing a blood test upon being discharged from hospital happened to my MIL.
JinglingHellsBells · 22/03/2022 09:04

@Ohbuggeritsme

Ooooh *@TwistedSisterUK* you've made the Daily Mail - fame beckons!
Yep front page, online version.
Stumpie222 · 22/03/2022 09:03

As a receptionist of 18 years I agree with every articulate word expressed by TwistedSister.

ThumbWitchesAbroad · 22/03/2022 08:50

On the side of the receptionists regarding phone messages etc.

For data protection etc. they're not generally supposed to leave messages with specific details of your health reports/ blood tests etc. on an answerphone/message bank, in case someone else picks it up by accident - that's why they ask the person to call back, so they can check it's the right person they're giving the results to.

Re test results over the phone - I don't know what the liability is, but as someone who worked in labs, we wouldn't hand out results over the phone to just anyone either, only to the doctors or the nurses on the wards. Which is why it used to annoy the tits off me when the doctors would phone and say "hi, it's Bethany, just looking for results on X patient" - and I'd have to ask "who are you?" because "Bethany" could be anyone, and I wasn't allowed to give results to anyone. "Bethany" was usually an SHO who thought it was "fun" or something to use her first name rather than her professional title.
So I can imagine that receptionists are bound by the same rules we were - don't give the patients numbers, let the doctor do that.

MariaOnCorrie · 22/03/2022 08:50

I'm so glad you said this "Please ppl, report, report report any substandard dealings with your GP surgery. Every time!"

I do and will continue to do so because I am fed up with the disorganisation in our GP practice between all the HCPs there eg no clarity in messages of whether a telephone consultation or an in person, loss of samples , delayed prescriptions etc .I am sure I am well known there for my complaints and like "that Mum in school" I have better service as a result.

RisingMoon · 22/03/2022 08:48

Dear the Daily Mail journalist who’s on here.

You are a cunt.

Report on that.

FUCKERS.

Ohbuggeritsme · 22/03/2022 08:42

Ooooh @TwistedSisterUK you've made the Daily Mail - fame beckons!

browneyes77 · 22/03/2022 08:42

[quote SunshinePie]Oh gawd..

www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-10636747/GP-receptionist-reveals-job-REALLY-involves.html[/quote]
Jesus. Are these saddo journalists still that strapped for stuff they have to continue trawling these boards? It’s never ending.

Really pee’s me off!

Dear the Daily Mail journalist who’s on here.

You are a cunt.

Report on that.

ThanksForAllTheFish · 22/03/2022 08:36

Why are receptionists so reluctant to give you specific details about your test results?
I have been tested for levels of certain things a few times and keep my own notes/ records on it. I like to track it myself so should I need that information in the future.
Receptionists are always reluctant to give me the actual numbers rather than just say - ‘The doctor says everything looks fine.’

Smallkeys · 22/03/2022 08:22

My query is the 830 call for an appointment does yo it surgery operate this ? It makes it very difficult for elderly mother as she uses abnormal phone doesn’t understand redial. Difficult for my son as he walking to school (over 16 ) abs me if I’m driving in to work. I also can’t get an appointment with the same doctor. It’s very frustrating . I once called in the afternoon to be quite sharply reprimanded to ask for an appointment with a doctor at any point over the coming months . Our receptionists are ok but they do tend in the nippy side . My friend a receptionist said you end up having to be like that. For me doctors don’t offer a service as such so no weekend opening or late night. I do get they also need to have a life but more convenience would be good .

Kidsfortea · 22/03/2022 08:09

@TwistedSisterUK

One last thing before I crack on ( get dressed ….lol)

A telephone consultation takes just as long as a face to face appointment - so no, GPS are not doing less than pre covid times. Far more as I’m sure any GP here will agree!

Then why won't they see patients now. If it takes the same time how easy would it be?
Swedenandnorway · 22/03/2022 08:00

Why do you keep putting Lol in your posts OP? It's annoying and detracts from an otherwise interesting topic.

garlictwist · 22/03/2022 06:31

@RosesAndHellebores

When I call my surgery the conversation goes like this.

"What's your name" "Mrs Roses Hellebores"

"What's your date of birth Roses" "xx.xx.xx"

Me "my name is Mrs Hellebores, may I have an appointment with Dr Bloggs or Dr Jones, it's for my review so not urgent but I work full-time so after 6.30pm please"

"I can give you one tomorrow with Dr Smith, alright Roses dahlin"

"No I asked for Dr Bloggs or Jones after 6.30pm and I'm happy to wait and my name is Mrs Hellebores please"

"Well luvvy I can fit you in Friday at 2.30pm"

I'm sorry may I repeat it has to be after 6.30 and I can wait but would like it with Dr Bloggs or Jones.

"Dr Bloggs is doing lates on Monday x April. She can see you at 6.50pm."

"Great, thank you".

OP please can you explain two things:

  1. Why Dr's receptionists appear incapable of following my request and instead would rather waste time and frustrate the caller?
  1. If the GPs are referred to as title and surname, ie, formally, why do receptionists invariably think they may use my first name or luvvy. Are patients not equal stakeholders in their care? That goes for the GPs too BTW
One thing I really like about my surgery is they don't refer to the doctors as "Doctor Smith" but by their first name. So you ring up and say you'd like an appointment with Andy or Sarah etc.

I think it makes it seem far less intimidating and the doctors seem like humans.

And I would HATE to be referrred to by a title (I am not married so not Mrs, too old for Miss and hate Ms) so I avoid titles wherever possible. In fact, I always click Mr on forms just because it really doesn't fucking matter anyway.

iloveeverykindofcat · 22/03/2022 06:06

@SchnitzelVonCrummsTum "secondary care task dump" I like that it even has an established name!

DanceItOut · 22/03/2022 05:20

I always thought the receptionist asking for information was common sense because so many people want to see doctors about things that can be see by nurses or a trip to the pharmacy versus some people really need to see a doctor that day. They are like the cruise directors of the medical world directing patients to the resources that best fit their requirements.

My last doctors surgery there was several receptionists but two main ones and I will admit that one as always very rude even when I was extremely polite and the other was always absolutely fine but I put that down to a personality quirk rather than a general rule about medical receptionists.

HaudYerWheeshtYaWeeBellend · 22/03/2022 02:34

Starlightening

I also work in a gp surgery and would like to remind all those slating receptionists that they do an amazing job !

No they don’t HTH!!

You can’t speak for the whole profession, just your own career.

ThumbWitchesAbroad · 22/03/2022 02:14

"I also work in a gp surgery and would like to remind all those slating receptionists that they do an amazing job !"

If you had read even a few posts on here, you would have seen that no, NOT all receptionists do an "amazing job". Some of them are downright appalling, to the point of lethal.

Most people have accepted that there are good and bad receptionists, and given examples of both - but it's ridiculous to virtue signal like this when the examples on here show your comment to be facile and far too generalistic.

Starlightening · 22/03/2022 02:11

I also work in a gp surgery and would like to remind all those slating receptionists that they do an amazing job ! As a clinician we have limited hours to not only see patients face to face (yes we do even during pandemic times!) excessive amounts of admin to do, home visits , call backs , results , referrals , if reception teams did not screen and ask pts for more about the reason for their call or wanting an appointment it would come straight to the clinical team eating into our over stretched working hours each day. What people dont see is the extras we see/ do on a daily basis and the backlog waiting for us the next day ! Believe me non of the clinical team get off on time and I am sure it’s the same for reception/ admin, they play a vital role in supporting us clinical staff and help to ensure patients are not wasting valuable appointments and that patients are signposted to the right people and seen only when they really need it ! For far to long now people have abused the NHS / receptionists it has to stop ! They are doing an amazing job well done, proud to work with you all 👍

alexdgr8 · 22/03/2022 01:04

i think she was meaning domestic violence, probably by a partner, so not a social services issue usually, re disclosing abuse.
so if the doctor knows and can gently reference it with the patient, then it's up to the patient whether they want to report it further, to police.
at least the doctor can offer some support, and it may be useful to record the fact at the time, in case it's needed later as corroboration.

Swipe left for the next trending thread