Something happened at work and its ruined my weekend

[user1475002412]

I work for the NHS in an admin capacity. However due to all our reception staff leaving I was told by my manager that I now have to do all my work whilst working on reception one day a week. So there I was on Friday, on reception.

A man approached. I smiled, said good morning and asked if he had an appointment. He said yes but didn’t know who the appointment was with. The reception area is for about 5 different clinics. I asked his name. I didn’t catch it, i asked again and he replied but again it wasn’t clear. So I asked his date of birth. I managed to find him on the list and saw straightaway he was 15 mins late. I told him to please take a seat while I checked whether the doctor could see him. Knocked on doctors door, explained patient had arrived. Doctor said no way was he seeing patient as patient late and he was due another patient in 5 minutes.

I went out to reception and told the patient doctor unable to see him because he was late. Patient became aggressive, shouting, leaning over the desk trying to grab my name badge, screaming that now he knew my name he was going to make trouble for me as it was my fault the doctor wouldn’t see him. I explained it was the doctors decision not mine. Eventually he left.

He then came back an hour later and started verbally abusing me. Again saying it was my fault and it shouldn’t matter that he was late, that he knows who I am and not to think I’ve “got away with it”. He swore at me and basically humiliated me.

I can’t stop thinking about it. Keep going over it in my head, can’t sleep, worried he may do something ie find out where I live. I just feel shaken up. I feel angry that I just sat there and let a man scream and swear at me.

I know it’s extreme but I don’t think I can do the job anymore. I am a very shy person and there’s no way I would ever have applied to be a NHS receptionist (2 of our receptionists left due to stress from dealing with angry patients). And yet through no choice of my own I find myself having to do this.

So sorry OP, you shouldn't have to put up with that. No excuse. Horrible man. Definitely talk to your manager again. Did any of your colleagues see? Could anyone else talk to your manager to say they'd witnessed it. He deserves to be removed from the register

Did you have to leave the confidential info on the desk for anyone to see/grab when you went to get the doctor?

One of my former nhs colleagues had a similar incident and following that we all covered our surnames up on our name badges with sticky labels cut to size. Managers never said anything. No need for your surname to be on a name badge. First name and a description is enough if a patient needs to identify or describe you.

Some people would be off sick with stress after such an incident....which will be more expensive for the nhs than a screen.

Datix the arse off this.

1. aggressive patient - verbally assaulted and threatened - no training to deal with this situation. Safeguarding and safety netting isn't just for patients - quick email to Manager reminding them this

1. having to complete admin that involves sensitive and personal patient information in a public area where that information is easily viewed by random members of the public - information governance issue - quick email to your Caldicott guardian - every trust has one. Ask for advice on how to deal with this , copy in line manager.

Unfortunately I think 2 will cause more of a stir than 1

Not surprised you are so upset.
I can't remember how many day a week you now have to work on reception, but can you take them off holiday while you look for a new job?

I completely agree to report this to police and employers etc, but fundamentally it sounds like a horrible job, one you don't actually want so I would be looking for employment elsewhere as a matter of urgency.

If you are handling sensitivedata at an open desk, then also raise it with the Caldicott Guardian, although in my experience not all trusts are up to speed on this.

We don’t have any problems with staff tucking ID badges into top pockets in my Trust as we all have our full names embroidered on our uniforms.
#Hello My Name Is.

This sounds totally, totally normal and I can’t believe posters are even at all surprised that this happens. This is how reception staff are treated every day in the NHS. As PP have said, you need to Datix it, contact / join a union and also contact whoever deals with confidentiality (probably your Caldicott guardian).

Yes, NHS staff are expected to have their full name on show. ‘Patients come first’ is the party line, even to the detriment of staff safety.

Need to log a datix and it will be filtered through to relevant people ie. Security team who can send a letter basically banning him from using the trust. Police should have been called at the time of the incident though, if this had been the clinic I work in I wouldn't have made a receptionist explain this to a patient on my behalf knowing I was putting them in a vulnerable position alone, I would have gone out and explained it to the patient myself. If it makes you feel any better I've encountered this many times also and I know how you feel, it shouldn't happen but it does. As front line staff you are bearing the brunt of perhaps a long drawn out process of getting an appointment in the first place, a long wait and possibly many more problems and finally frustration is taken out on us staff. He wont be coming to find you or anything else, he was trying to bully you into getting a doctor to see him as people wrongly believe if they push that hard they will get what they want. Your managers should be supporting the removal of this person from any clinics.

Ilovelala I've never worked for a Consultant who hasn't expected me to be the one who goes out to explain to the late patient why they won't be seen.

I'm a nurse that's why. The consultants and doctors I work with would expect receptionists to do it and couldn't care less what abuse they take for it. Due to our receptionist having a pair of crutches thrown at her for this reason we now make sure the 'messenger' isn't alone on the desk and is supported by more senior staff and is now policy in our clinic. I've told consultants who were being unreasonable about not seeing a patient to tell the patient in question themselves and most of the time they see them instead of saying no.

Sorry, op. I don't know whether it has been mentioned but is your first name and surname on your badge? If so, you should be able to request just Christian name.

Also, do you use Datix? If so, you should Datix it.

I hope you're okay. Nno-one should have to put up with that level (or any level) of abuse; it's horrifying!

no-one

Ilovelala Ah, now that explains it.

Part of the reason I’m beating myself up is as other posters have said, as former receptionists this wouldn’t have fazed them as they spent years doing the job. I however don’t have the necessary skills to deal with this situation. No training and very little experience.

That's a big fault to start with. It really annoys me how the reception job is often treated as "oh anybody can do it" and no training given, when actually it is a skilled job and it takes time to learn to do it properly . You should never have been in this position. I also think having full names on badges is wrong - I've never seen that, it is normally just a christian name. I also can't believe that there is no form of security, and you seem to be getting little support. I'm so sorry this has happened to you

I'm so sorry this happened to you. I had a similar situation at the university I work at a couple of months ago, although not as bad. There was a very minor inconvenience which I had no way of fixing but this student was irate. Swearing at me, being aggressive, coming back to shout at me several times, asking for my details to report me etc. Like you, I couldn't sleep, kept going over it again and again in my head and was so angry that someone was able to do that to me without consequences (I didn't get his details). I was also very worried that he'd return again but he never did complain which I suspected he wouldn't. There's no way I would do this job if I had to deal with that kind of thing regularly.

Did you not call security?

@Loveablers OP said they don't have security staff there.

I spent another sleepless night worrying about this. Going over and over it in my head. I’m not going into work today. When I ring my manager this morning I will explain why. Just feel so upset about it all.

I don't blame you OP, take care of yourself

Was there CCTV ?

I'm actually shocked that people are so shocked!! It happens all the time in the NHS. I'm a nurse and it's happened so many times to us and reception staff. We do not get back up by management, in fact they usually make sure aggressive patient gets preferential treatment!!

You need to make a Datix report, go to Occupational Health because it's affecting you. I'd also speak to your union rep or Someone you trust who is the same level or higher than your boss.

When speaking about the fact that your actual contracted job is not suitable to do at reception make sure you mention information governance, confidentiality etc.

Also super shocked that people are ahocked Asterisk. It makes me wonder what on Earth people think the NHS is actually like. This is 100% run of the mill standard behaviour towards NHS staff. Almost always excused as the perpetrators are stressed or unwell.

OP, find out if your hospital has a security team. I’d be stunned if they don’t unless it is a very small hospital. You should be able to call them on 2222 if something like this happens again.