Fucking gp receptionist....

[Hellbentwellwent]

I’m livid.

Just called in the surgery to get a repeat prescription and while I was there thought I’d ask if my blood results had come back. So I asked the receptionist.... for clarity there is a desk in the waiting room which is the only place to speak to the receptionist. There were other patients sitting waiting, easily in earshot, 8 foot away, and it was quiet. All I wanted to know was if I had to speak to the gp or if there was nothing to note on the results. Instead however the receptionist thought it was appropriate to announce to us all in the waiting room that my hormone profile was in line with a hysterectomy. Thanks very fucking much, I’ve just had a hugely traumatic surgery, very recently, I’m in my mid thirties so young to have had it done and feeling pretty bloody emotional over the whole thing in the first place and this this silly bint decides to share it with a room full of patients.

I said thank you, she smiled and said you’re welcome, then I said, no, thank you for sharing that with everyone, and the smile melted of her face as I looked around at a room full of people looking at us.

I walked out on the verge of tears. Just got home furious.

What the fuck ever happened to patient confidentiality???

I shall be emailing the practice manager after a glass of wine to complain.

Hi op sorry you are upset I work as a receptionist and they lay out of the waiting room and desk is often less than ideal for privacy. We have a tv on loudly but im unsure how much sound it covers really but also unsure how to improve it as unfortunately the reception desk is usually right next to the waiting room.With the message what happens is the Gp writes something attached to the results eg make an appointment but sometimes they write a message we need to read to the patient. I just usually say doctor has left a message can I read it to you and if it doesn't make sense we will arrange a followup with the Gp. As obviously all we can do is read a message and cant answer any questions. If you want to complain I would talk about lack of privacy ect rather than her reading out the message as she has just done what the doctor has asked her too which is pass a message to you but obviously totally up to you.

Yes you should definitely complain. She is clearly incompetent and uncaring nowonder you are livid

I'm sorry you experienced this. I'm a receptionist and in this instance I would have written it down for you. I'm sure it wasn't done maliciously but still unprofessional.

You should complain because otherwise she won’t learn from this. I’m sorry you had to go through that though.

I think, you asked her, she told you. It’s not ideal but the nhs is under pressure .

Might the results have said, "hormones in line with someone who's had a hysterectomy" and she was just reading it out?

All I asked her was if my blood results had come back in. She could easily have looked them up and said yes, followed by either, the doctor has requested to speak to you or there’s no further action. That covers all bases and protects patients confidentiality.

I’m pretty sure none of the pp who are saying the nhs is under pressure would be particularly happy with any of their private medical history being shared with strangers despite the pressures in the nhs, all right for you to say though isn’t? And what relevance does the nhs being under pressure bear on the lack of thought or care demonstrated by this one individual? Budget cuts or long waiting lists don’t exempt her from using basic common sense and decency when handling patients data.

Regardless of whether she did this mailiciously or through incompetence/stupidity, you still have the right to privacy.
Report, she needs training at the very least.

Unfortunately, that is probably what the doctor wrote in the comments (Where their instruction to us is). Doctors put some stupid things in there when we have no idea what it means.

The NHS is under pressure

That statement has no bearing on what happened here at all! And seems to be bandied around as some kind of an excuse for incompetence.
The receptionist was shit. I'm sorry that happened to you OP. Definitely complain to the practice manager, and I hope you're OK

I didn’t think reception staff should give out any results as they’re not trained to answer questions or take the conversation further?

Well, complaint sent. I’m still raging. And absolutely the ‘nhs is under pressure’ is the shitest excuse for incompetence. I’m under pressure every day in my job, doesn’t mean I can just start being shit and everyone should suck it up ffs

I’ve asked for an acknowledgement that the complaint has been received and asked for a response as to how the complaint will be handled. We shall see... I didn’t explicitly ask for an apology, but I sure as hell expect one along with an assurance that the receptionist will be given more training in data handling.

I would be fuming too OP.

The amount of times I have been sitting In mine and have heard all sorts of ailments of other people, I’ve often thought they could be quieter about it. The ones at mine seem to almost shout

it’s not ideal but the nhs is under pressure

Bullshit excuse. Its an absolute basic level of care not being met.

It’s not ideal but the nhs is under pressure

Completely irrelevant. The receptionist was completely out of order. That's nothing to do with being under pressure etc - it's basic lack of common sense. A complaint to the practice manager is definitely justified.

The receptionist didn't have to read it out, she could have shown the OP for privacy instead. This is nothing to do with pressure on the NHS.

The NHS is under pressure. It’s not bullshit. My NHS department is stretched beyond believability. I imagine gp surgeries are similar. Lack of training etc

I hate receptions at GP there is no privacy and everyone can hear everything. I wouldn't have asked about something in that space if I wasn't happy for it to be discussed there though as the reasonable assumption would be I asked so wanted to know rather than to just be told yes as GP's don't speak to you personally about all results they do just leave messages and the staff can't adapt the message it would be wrong if they did that.

It bugs me when they are on phone discussing confidential stuff and the waiting room can hear and you don't even know who they are talking to. We don't need to hear about it.

It's the surgeries who are to blame for not providing a confidential space and for expecting reception staff to do stuff on a reception desk when it shouldn't be discussed there. I think they should all have signs saying please ask to speak in private if you would prefer so people have the option of not having thier private detials spoken about in public.

I'm sorry you're going through this tough time.

The nhs is under pressure. That doesn't give someone the right to share someone else's medical history publicly. Glad you've complained op and I'm sorry you've been through all that and then this.

I think there was a misunderstanding here. You asked if the blood results were back. She reasonably thought you were asking for the results so told you. From your post it didn’t sound like you asked her ‘do I need to see the doctor about my latest results’. That would have been a more discreet question, and she’d have likely followed it with a more discreet answer. As it is, ‘your hormone line is in results with your hysterectomy’ isn’t exactly a traumatic statement. It isn’t like she was announcing your std results to the waiting room. No one cares or is judging you about your hormone results

@Polkadotshot. I agree. You can’t blame the receptionist for publicly answering a question that a patient asked them in public

I am so sorry you had to go through this, OP.

Obviously you have grounds for complaint and an apology wouldn't go amiss.

You must be feeling so upset about this. It really isn't acceptable at all.

I’m very much of the opinion that you did ask? And she would have read what was on the screen. Yes it wasn’t great for her to read it out, however gp reception areas are like this as we all know.

I said thank you, she smiled and said you’re welcome, then I said, no, thank you for sharing that with everyone

Such a horrible situation, but I'm so glad you said something at the time, OP - I often think of these things to say in retrospect but freeze up at the time; I'm in awe of you!

Shit that it happened though

I’m sorry you’re upset. If it’s any consolation I don’t think a single person in there would have cared about it though.

I had a hysterectomy in my early 30s too. It was oddly emotional for me.