Ask my anything - I’m a nhs gp receptionist

[Sunnydays999]

Thought this might help having seen the other thread !

[honkytonkheroe]

Our surgery has a rule that you have to phone for an appointment with the triage nurse. Usually things like tonsillitis where she can prescribe antibiotics. One day I was literally at the drs having a blood test and needed to make an appointment for my son with the triage nurse. She said she only was able to take these by phone and not in person so I literally had to step outside the surgery and ring her. This was pre-covid. Do you think this is reasonable?

[Sunnydays999]

@hopsalong yes we have felt that . And the asking for reason for call has only come in the last 2 years at our surgery.

[Sunnydays999]

@honkytonkheroe no . People just do what they are told Tho . Lots of different ideas float about , new ways . Not sure it’s always for the best

[Sunnydays999]

@BigPaperBag why do you think it’s goady?

[Sunnydays999]

If you don’t like being asked what is wrong with you when you make an appointment-complain . Complain officially tho not to us . We can’t change anything.
We hate it . We aren’t nosey . We can see your files anyway.It’s more work for us asking you .

[Blueberrycreampie]

Can you shed any light on what gps have been doing during the pandemic? Are they even at work? Last time I queued for a script for an hour or more outside the surgery, I only saw a handful of patients go in the surgery door - and they were for the nurse!

[Sunnydays999]

@Blueberrycreampie obviously can’t speak for all . Ours would be going 12/13 phone / zoom calls a day so where still working. They would see 2/3 who had to be examined but you wouldn’t see them . They would be kept well away from the main area for covid risk

[honkytonkheroe]

Personally I have no problem saying what's wrong with me to a drs receptionist. Also I'm a big fan of the virtual or phone appointments. A few months ago I had a mark on my back I was worried about. I phoned the receptionist who said to send in a photo and the dr would ring me the next day. He did, saying that it was definitely not worrying and telling me what it was. The same for my daughter's acne. Sent a photograph in and in a phone consultation he put her on the pill (had tried lots of other things previously). Both things dealt with quickly and conveniently.

[Sunnydays999]

And we have had staff in and out of isolation like any workforce so some days you would have 2 doctors splitting the work of 4 .

[Sunnydays999]

@honkytonkheroe glad to hear it was easily sorted .

[EggysMom]

I'm sure you are lovely people really, doing a hard job, but I have only ever found GP receptionists to be abrupt and unhelpful. So i tend to be on the defensive before i even contact you, based on experience. Which, combined with the fact i think there's something wrong with me ( else i wouldn't be calling), probably makes me terse too.

[imlateagain]

@Sunnydays999

We have to ask you what’s wrong
The doctors make the rules . We would love to interrupt them to get a prescription signed but we aren’t allowed
Sometimes the gps forget to sign the prescriptions due to work load . We would never tell you this . This is when we say it’s a computer error

You may be told to ask what's wrong, but the patient is no obliged to tell you.

[bookshop1]

@sunnydays999

Your responses on this thread are exactly why it seems as though you make a great GP receptionist! You're handling them well. It must be so tough having people be so negative and difficult not to take things personally. I would find the job impossible (I am NHS staff but a different role)

If it helps I've only ever had positive experiences with GP receptionists- at various surgeries. If you're kind to them, they'll be kind back. Like any job, there will be many good receptionists and some bad ones.

Would you say the majority of people you speak to are nice, and only a very small minority are rude to you?

[Fieldofyellowflowers]

I get that GP receptionists have to do what the doctors tell them to and that they need to follow the practice's policy. That doesn't bother me. It's the attitude that some of the receptionists have that I don't like. I asked a polite, reasonable question to a receptionist in my old surgery and got a rude answer. Her answer didn't bother me. It was her grumpy, downright nasty attitude that pissed me off. I asked a different question to my new gp practice and got a "sorry we can't do that because of x,y and z". Which was much better.

[Longtalljosie]

I think it’s pretty shocking that doctors set the rules and then claim ignorance, indirectly blaming the front office.

[YukoandHiro]

@planetexpressship I recently had this - receptionist asked for a photo, then gp called and asked history and booked me in for an appointment. They were non concerning lesions in the end, despite changing shape rapidly. More similar to warts apparently!

[bookshop1]

I also have no problem saying what's wrong with me to a GP receptionist- they don't know me from Adam and couldn't care less. You don't need to go into great detail about whatever is oozing out your fanny. Just a brief 'breast lump' or 'anxiety symptoms' or 'my mood' or 'something personal, sorry I'm at work/in the supermarket so don't want to go into detail' is sufficient. They're not asking to be nosey.

[Sunnydays999]

@EggysMom totally understand that . And we are human and get it . If I think someone is worried I try my absolute best to get them to the front x

[ZowieHendrix]

Sorry to comment so much but I think what people don't understand is that receptionists do know what they're talking about. When I was a dental receptionist I knew my shit. Having an angry patient demanding to come in and have their filling checked when we told them it would take a while to settle and we advised the need to take painkillers. I would tell them this on the phone, as they were rude and patronising, dentist would ring back and say exactly the same thing and they would be all sweetness and light 'oh I knew I was panicking, thank you sooooo much Alan, you take care.'

[Sunnydays999]

@bookshop1 and if you said a breast lump we would be trying to get you in that day .
Unfortunately we also have to say no appointment for you - you need a ambulance

[bookshop1]

very difficult situation for you to be in to have to tell people that

I'm incredibly grateful that breast, cervical and bowel cancer screening are continuing

[Sunnydays999]

@CarolVordermansBum no qualifications needed . I have a degree but it made no difference . Typing on a phone while doing jobs .

[Sunnydays999]

@bookshop1 it happens a lot . People don’t realise the severity of the symptoms. And it does play on your mind , I end up ringing work to find out what happened

[Sunnydays999]

@ZowieHendrix you get that a lot . I do understand, it’s the doctors that get annoyed