GP receptionists?

It probably because your contact with 111 has been documented - if something happened to you that can be sued, whereas if you present to the receptionist there probably no record of that conversation.

@PocketSand that's not how the funding works.

Yes it’s exactly this. I have just walked down to my doctors surgery to post my prescription request through the letter box they have for the purpose. The surgery was closed. A young lad was there ringing the bell. He had received a text telling him attend the surgery today. He had biked from a village several miles away to find the surgery closed. It was only to pick up a form. Someone eventually spoke to him through the intercom system and told him to go away and come back at 8am tomorrow morning. Then followed a lengthy explanation as to why it wasn’t possible to give him the form today even though they themselves had texted for him to come and get the form today. They literally could have walked to the door with the form. It would have taken seconds. The whole system is a shit show and patients are being treated as an inconvenience.

HA! Thats a bloody laugh!

A couple of years ago I ended up with septeceamia after having my appendix out.

Started going downhill in the early hours - rang the GP at 8am for advice - the receptionist said my symptoms "Weren't urgent and they would have someone call me back later, "probably this afternoon or tomorrow"
In the meantime it worsened further to the point that mum rang the ambulance - I spent 4 hours in resus, in critical condition, and a furher 2 weeks in the hospital.

The receptionist rang back, eventually. My gran gave her an earfull, and a complaint was raised.

Those GP recpetionists are litterally paid to be bloody minded and unhelpful.

Practice nurses can only do so much, and half of them cant even draw blood properly.

Most practice nurses have no IDEA about drug interactions, nor do they check them before prescribing, its ridiculous.

The issue I have is the expectation you will be endlessly available for health checks and reviews when they want to see you for no clinical reason but unable to book an appointment when there is clinical need. I’ve never had so many blood tests as long as I have no control but I suspect it would be different story if I requested investigation. Your cholesterol is a bit high - how about statins? 6 months later - your cholesterol has reduced and you never had any other issues so you don’t need statins. What a waste of time and money.

My son is on ADHD medication and his consultant does regular height, weight, BP and HR but GP insists he goes to the surgery every couple of months for BP. They won’t accept home readings so a 40 minute round trip for an everything’s fine and taking up nurse consult time.

I suspect that GP surgeries skew their consults to those that are funded and are quick and easy.

Leaving less available to patients requesting consults that they want/need but don’t attract extra funding.

They are called Medical Centres now.

They are not obsessed. The Conservative government has created a GP shortage. There are NOT ENOUGH DOCTORS.

Appointments are offered with nurse practitioners as it may be more appropriate and if you want a doctors appointment there could be a couple of weeks wait. It’s supply and demand - more people than ever want an appointment but there are less GP’s.
You can’t have an appointment if there aren’t any available

And they’re obsessed with giving you appointments with ‘nurse practitioners ‘ I thought this was a DOCTORS surgery??

I find if you talk to them in person and be unfailingly polite but firm they sort things out in a lot more timely manner. Don’t think they have it in them to be as bolshy face to face as on the phone

But they are not medically trained , in ED you have extra training to triage.
It’s easy to miss things.

111 do not have any GP’s working in clinics during usual GP opening hours therefore you need to be sent back. Unless it’s out of hours

All 111 can do is triage you to another service in hours

GP receptionists cannot book the 111 slots

If you call 111 8-6.30 you will either be sent to your GP, A&E or another type of urgent walk in

There are 111 slots at some GP surgeries that the staff there cannot book, unless it's very close to the appointment time

Anyone who's close enough to get there can call 111 and get it booked - turns out your GP surgery was full, but for the 111 slot, which could be booked by the 111 people

Maybe!? DP couldn’t bare the call dance so we don’t know if she’s still there.

I will tell him to have a browse when he goes in and if the nice receptionist is there maybe to mention the strange comments on his records.

While 111 are pretty insistent that patients go back to their GPs, you have to be insistent back

Reiterating that the GP has no further appointments and that you need to see a GP somewhere else can get you an emergency 111 slot at another GP practice or one of the reserved out of hours slots

I wonder if it is the one who left, was dismissed from my surgery that you have. Had to get practice manager to remove some inappropriate things she had written in my record. Funnily enough the new team are amazing, now she has gone. It runs like clockwork, and it's so efficient. They are great, lovely and friendly, and I'm incredibly fortunate to be registered there.

One of ours is awful. Truly awful.

DP had a run in with them last year. Now just hangs up the line if they pick up, and calls back until he gets the good receptionist.

To avoid this dance he finally downloaded NHS app. Saw his notes for the first time. This crazy receptionist has added a load of comments about discussing patient compliance with him. 😭 😭 😭

A real piece of work

Being a GP receptionist, these threads always make me feel awkward. We don’t like turning people away for appointments believe it or not. But if you want an urgent on the day appointment for something you’ve had for months, you’re not going to get one as we ask ‘why is it now urgent after x amount of time’. People call for urgent on the day for their kids/themselves, and when given a time they say they can’t make it as their at school/work. If you can attend school/work it’s not urgent. I think people ask for urgent as they just don’t want to wait a week to be seen.

A patient’s wife rang our surgery last month to book in as an urgent appointment with a GP.
Crushing chest pain and breathless. All the classic signs of a heart attack.

I think my colleague was on the phone to his wife for 15 minutes pleading with her to get off the phone and dial 999.
in the end one of the nurses dialled 999 as we couldn’t get her off the phone due to ‘needing to see a GP’ about her husband chest pains!

I really don’t want to pick holes as I do understand it’s frustrating but it’s not your GP’s role at all to do tests for a consultant. The clinician who wants the tests is legally and clinically responsible for ordering them and reviewing the results, there is a whole entire NHS policy enshrined in the NHS contract about this. It’s not actually safe…However, consultants push back to the GP for the ‘donkey work’ - putting more and more and more pressure on primary care. Which is breaking

consultants are not more senior to a GP. Thry are more specialist, They can’t instruct a GP what to do. They aren’t the GP’s boss man. They don’t rule the medical world with GP’s at the bottom taking instructions. There are clear guidelines about this. Consultants choose not to pay attention to it

Me neither. Seems they are fair game in a way no other profession is? Always wonder if it's because it's a job that is 99% female workforce.

There is no way to even speak to a receptionist at my GP practice. It is on the East Sussex coast and yet all calls go to a call centre in Manchester. The call centre staff do not have any medical knowledge and deal with numerous other types of businesses. I find the situation ludicrous and frustrating. Emailing the surgery is not possible either btw.