Why aren’t doctor’s receptionists more discrete?

At this rate why don't they just sack all the doctors and let the receptionists take over. It would save the NHS a bomb.

I sat in our Dr’s waiting room and couldn’t help but hear the receptionist repeat the patient’s answers to private details. Then she said in a loud voice, “ And Mrs …… can you detail exactly what is wrong with the bum!” 😳

YANBU. I've witnessed, and experienced this in my own GP's surgery. I actually said something when I experienced it. There were about half a dozen people in the waiting room and the receptionist was asking me for personal details, through a glass screen,so I had to raise my voice to be heard. I wasn't happy about it and asked if there was somewhere more private that we could do this. She wasn't very happy but she did oblige and asked me to go round to the window at the side of the reception area where there were no patients waiting.

It's quite simple "I'd rather not say, it's personal". Anyone who is able to say the above does not need to explain to the receptionist.

It's disgusting. They ignore Patchs (at least 3 cases I know of-all people who work in tech in case anyone blames the victims for not knowing what they're doing) and don't answer the phones, so you have to go in.
It worked much better when you just booked an appointment and only talked about what was wrong when you and the doctor were in a private room together. It's funny how everyone I've ever talked to, regardless of age/backgroun etc much preferred the system as it was.

My surgery has had a wholesale change of receptionists in the last few years and they are actual human beings who don't assume you are a pain in the arse before you become one. I used to be a hospital receptionist in a very busy outpatients dept. and I know how difficult some patients can be.

As a receptionist your loyalties, as it were are torn between patients and clinicians. You need good support from your managers and clinicians to do your best, just as they rely on you to do their jobs.

The minute you forget what it feels like to be a patient you shouldn't be doing the job, but many in the NHS are institutionalised and some are just not nice.

I refuse to talk to a doctors receptionist about anything medical. It is not a legal requirement and cannot be in enforced. Some of them think they are medically trained, they irritate the life out of me...But may have something to do with me being an advanced nurse practitioner..Still, l don't like the way some of them speak to patients, it isn't nice and there's no need for it.

Do you or the ‘pedant’ seriously think that after a lifetime of schooling, being corrected on a chat forum by a random is going to make it all suddenly fall into place? 🙄

Good to know.

No need for actual teachers and schools then.

I had an amusing recent encounter with a gp receptionist when I lost most of my hearing due to an ear infection. I couldn’t hear what was being asked and the woman behind the desk seemed to think that shouting while looking away at her screen would help me. Luckily, some of the other patients who were waiting in the queue came to my assistance!

I recall during Covid, when we attended my GP’s for an appointment, they made you wait outside the front door, then speak into the camera outside to tell them your name and asked what your appointment was for before they’d let you into the building!

So any random sod that was walking past in the street could bloody hear! Ludicrous.

One of the receptionists at my GP, I think of her as Pauline from The League of Gentlemen, could double as a train announcer at the local station, which is 200 m away, from her desk.

These days to get an appointment you apply online and if you are lucky get an appointment within 30 days. So you don’t have to ask her stuff much.

My experience of doctor's receptionists has not been good. The worst was years ago, when I was made to wait for an hour and a half with a sick baby, even though others volunteered to give me their place in the queue. My son would have died that night if, when the gp finally saw him, he hadn't sent him to hospital for an emergency operation.
More recently, I was told my husband, who was ill and has dementia and cancer, would have to wait a week for a phone consultation. This was remedied when I rang the oncology department of our hospital who responded with instructions for an urgent appointment and a series of tests which resulted in his admittance to hospital and avoided the kidney damage that he would have suffered if we had been forced to wait.

Last week I rang to tell the receptionist at our surgery that I had been sent the wrong eye drops again. When I told her they were not the ones that had been prescribed, I was astounded when she asked why I couldn't use them.

Receptionists are the gatekeepers of the NHS, until you have negotiated past them and reached the professionals who, in my experience, are usually caring, you are nowhere. It seems to me that much higher standards of training are called for, whether about aspects of confidentiality, respect or training that makes them more able to recognise the serious nature of the conditions that some patients are presenting and their urgent need for medical attention.

I find that quite hard in pharmacies when I have to give my name, date of birth and/or address in front of a queue of people and sometimes discuss my medication, I don’t enjoy the people behind or beside me hearing those details

Me too.

Only one pedant per corner?🤣

Yes, but it doesn't mean there isn't a better way, just that no one's bothered to change because we've always done it that way.

Hrft but got the gist.

I agree its awful whenever you have a screen between you and the conversor I really struggle as the sounds are muted abd I have hearing issues.

I seem to recall from various TV shows they had a phone to phone screen communication system in US prisons, would that work better?

Might need to be self sanitising though....

Same at mine, they prefer you to make an appointment online where you fill in a form with a description of your issue/symptoms and it gets tiraged or you can phone, but they prefer you to use the app/website . The days of walking in and just asking at reception for an appointment are long gone. I had not had to see a GP for over 7 years and when I did become unwell about a year ago i got a real shock at how much had changed.

I have issue with the NHS -the awful care my Dad recoived in last years of his life was not care more abuse and their "care" nearly killed me and my last child.

But the receptioints have the least power - and GP surgeries are independently run and frankly complaining to practise mangager unlike most of the NHS tends to get results IME.

You can also - area dependent because I have lived in area with not enough GP pratcises - move pratcises - more easily than you can change hospitals or most NHS services.

If you have specific problems with your GP receptionist complain - I and many other did at least GP and things changed.

I remember my mother being horrified when the receptionist (who did have a particularly loud voice IIRC) confirmed that she was there for a smear test. "She could just have confirmed my appointment with the nurse" she said - it did really upset her. She was getting on a bit then as I recall - my mum, not the receptionist.

I too was mentally unwell and went to Gp for support. I didn’t mind the receptionist but the Gp stood there watching me getting distraught offering no sympathy. There response go to A and E. Then A and E send you back to Gp part of hospital as all you needed was sympathy, listening ear and advice. We are all one world mentally ill or not.Yes it’s embarrassing hearing what people say but mental illness is part of life.

I’m impressed your surgery still has a discussion with reception-patients at all. Ours are all online bookings & triage, with some permitted to do it over the phone. Nobody gets to be triaged face to face any more.

We use all our 13 rooms for clinicians for appointments. There is nowhere to take patients if they want to discus things privately. We donot take phone calls at reception desk, that's done in the back office area, noone in reception can hear