Ask my anything - I’m a nhs gp receptionist

[Sunnydays999]

Thought this might help having seen the other thread !

@SpudsandGravy it genuinely wouldn't surprise me if it was the cost of a stamp. I live fairly rural. Our gp practice has teamed with another about 25 min drive away. During the first lockdown I got tonsillitis and didn't get out of bed for a week. My surgery booked me a telephone consultation with the other surgery (I can only assume because they were so short staffed at mine) who prescribed antibiotics but wanted me to drive a 50 min round trip to get the prescription. She couldn't understand why I wouldn't when I couldn't walk down stairs, I was that ill. They didn't send prescriptions electronically, couldn't send it to my local doctors and my village pharmacy didn't have a fax machine. The only suggestion the receptionist could come up with was to post the prescription to me, but first I would have to send her a stamped address envelope.

I spent 2 hours on the phone. In tears to different pharmacy's trying to get the prescription I needed. I was so cross.

@Sunnydays999 that's what I'm saying though. The receptionist wouldn't put through the prescription to the GP because I had picked one up 3 days before but I only had 2 days worth of insulin left.

That's disgusting @seepingweeping - I would call the diabetic midwife or failing that 111 in that situation.

GPs and their practices don't seem to understand GD anyway. They don't get how serious it is to the health of you and your baby. I can't get my 13 week post partum blood test to check for type 2 at the moment. They're refusing to put the blood test form through as it's not serious. I'm not too worried as I'm low risk (my only risk factor is two GD pregnancies and I was diet controlled in both) but to suggest it's not important or necessary right now is bonkers

I'm a GP Receptionist too and we use Ask My GP for patients to contact the Doctor, those who don't have internet phone us and we put them on the system. It's telephone consultations in the first instance but if the GP feels they need to see a patient face to face then they make the appointment.

It seems procedures vary from practice to practice.

We are also telephoning to book patients in for covid jabs without extra staff to do it and with the constant telephone calls coming in it's absolutely hectic. I've been there 11 years and we've had the same amount of staff but as it's so busy we are not coping with the workload. The GPs will not consider additional staff because it comes out of their budget. I don't like having a backlog of admin work.

I did suggest at next flu season to have a person just to come in to phone and book patients in to clinic. I know that won't happen because they are so tight.

@fannyFERNACKERPANN the reason for this is if a doctor calls they have to fill in a lot of reports and have to wait with the patient . A lot of surgery’s tell there staff not to be involved . Ours tells us to call as a passing person . One of our doctors has gone out before and attended but the truth is if they get to involved it’s the reports and paper work .

@SpudsandGravy we aren’t meant to use the stamps for patients. But I work got a lovely practice . I would send it to you and if they said any thing I would say sorry , but I wouldn’t be in trouble . One time The electronic system was down it was a Friday And someone had had a op needed pain killers . I took the prescription to the needed chemist on the way home . Now had I worked for another surgery I could of been facing disciplinary for doing that . I told my manager to cover my back and his response was “oh that’s nice of you “ .
It really depends on how the practice is run , how strict and if the staff think they are going to get bollocked

@SpudsandGravy just made me think one of our medical secretary’s has taken a old lady home before , very poorly couldn’t get a taxi . Again our manager just laughed and said hope she pays you a taxi fair - but it’s actually not really allowed .

@seepingweeping sometimes we have notes on the system saying no more before certain date if they think you are over using . You should be put on the list for a call to the doctor tho

@TroysMammy isn’t flu season fun !!! we live near a major covid vaccinating site so we are booking them in , as well as the other work . No extra staff . Patients keep ringing about the covid jabs. Just want to scream when you keep ringing I can’t book anyone in , or do your prescriptions!!!!
Isn’t it fun . Do you use Emis or system one ?

@Suedo it’s so hard . We were just saying what will it be like in winters to come ? Running covid and flu clinics. Will they be combined or will October to dec just be hideous???

I've dropped off pain relief for a lady who lived on her own and it was too late for a pharmacy to arrange a delivery. I've done other things over the years and the gp's are fine with it. After all it's a customer service role and we want the best for our patients. If we can do a little bit extra when needed we all benefit.

@TroysMammy have you had flack over the jabs ? We had so much abuse when they changed it from 2nd after 2 weeks to 12 weeks . Felt like saying give Boris a ring it’s not personally my bloody doing

@TroysMammy that’s nice . My friend is at a surgery and was On a disciplinary for that . It really seems to depend on the surgery

Sunnydays999 we use Vision.

If you are NHS England, I'm Wales, why does it take so long to receive the files for patients who have transferred to us?

That's another thing about us transferring files out for people who have moved and died, we have to print out every letter from 2009, when letters were scanned on, to date. It's ridiculous the amount of paperwork especially for the elderly. There is GP2GP which the new surgery gets the info before the file but we still have to print it out to send it on.

Sunnydays999 we haven't had much of that because we've only had 2 Saturday clinics. It's the "I know I shouldn't be ringing about the jab" and the "Sorry to bother you" conversations. If people know they shouldn't and apologising for bothering why have they telephoned?

I only work 2 1/2 days a week, 25 hours which suits me fine but now I always have a sense of dread on a Wednesday morning before I start at 1pm.

Also do your members of staff know how to spell things like prostate, not prostrate, goldstones, gall stones, coriner not coroner because it really pisses me off that my colleagues don't. I've even put up a list of correct spelling and still they do it. Considering the information they type in on Ask My GP is copied and pasted to the patient's medical records they don't seem to care as much as I do. I used to be a Secretary in a bank in a past life and if I don't know how to spell things then I look it up. I enjoy my job, I find it interesting and I'm constantly learning, and retaining new information. However my reply to when someone asks me how is work is -" it's frustrating".

@TroysMammy Iv no idea it’s such a pain . I do the gp2 gp and the system is a nightmare

@TroysMammy I find the doctors are the main culprits 🤣

@Sunnydays999

Thanks for explaining that to me, it's nice to know what they were thinking because I couldn't and my diabetic team couldn't understand why they were doing it even after they called them to explain how many units I was on a day. I still don't think it's their place to do that though, if there was a note on my records as they're not experts in the ever changing gestational diabetes.

The pharmacy was great and got everything I needed when I needed it.

My new GP surgery is fab and have staff like you that are helpful and kind. My example is from my old surgery who were terrible.

@suedo that sounds really hard . I have worked from home but now I’m back , socially distancing is hard but we all have the 2 a week home tests . We do lots of different things that are more admin based lab reports gp to gp new registrations. As a reception team we all quite like the admin side as you get away from the public a bit . So we push to do that . It sounds like your receptionists aren’t keen ?

@seepingweeping they really should of told you why . I always do I think it’s your right to know . Then you can decide if you need to discuss it with a gp . Just to say no is wrong , I would always offer a gp call that day . Sometimes people don’t think how it’s affecting the patient. We get people wanting more sedatives than they are allowed . I always feel sad as they are often anxious. I always put them at the top of the list with the doctor . It must be scary to need something and be denied

@Suedo I love the admin side and want to move over . Iv done a little secretary work as well . I really want to be all admin in the future . I do think such a public facing role has a burn out rate .
What’s your role ?

@Sunnydays999 I could totally understand a refusal if it was a sedative but it was insulin.

No one ever told me or the team who's care I was under. They kept saying I'd had a prescription that week, they just couldn't grasp that the pens lasted me 1 day of both insulin's.