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.

I would have thought it was bloody common sense and perfectly obvious that you don't share any confidential information in a public space with everyone listening. I hope she gets the training she so desperately needs.

Regardless of anything else, a receptionist in a medical setting should always have the sensitivity to read a situation.

Hope you get the response you want Op .

It’s hardly the end of the world OP! You asked a question, she answered it. I’m guessing no one in the waiting room thought you’d just popped in for a haircut.

I don't think your anger is disproportionate. I think your anger is fine.

Part of the reason we take confidentiality so seriously in medicine is that these are painful and private experiences that make a person so so vulnerable. It's a huge act of trust to share the kind of intimate and personal information we share with our doctor and it's really important to protect that, because it's right to do so, and also to make sure people can get the care they need.

This is fundamental to the doctor patient relationship and must be taken seriously and defended.

Thanks hellbent. I was lucky that I had had a baby a few months before that but it was the start of getting a secondary infertility diagnosis. I can only imagine how painful it must be to be going through that at your age

After all - she simply needs more training.

Training to know you should lower your voice when reading someones test results? Surely that's just common sense.

Surely, if she had to announce the details at all, the thing to say was "the results are in line with your recent procedure/operation"?

That doesn't require training - it just calls for a little common sense and costs precisely nothing

**The receptionist made a mistake and breached your privacy

She obviously needs more training

I think your anger is way disproportionate to what actually happened

I think your unhappiness about the bloods result played a part in your (over) reaction

I hope the receptionist doesnt get into a lot of trouble because of you

After all - she simply needs more training.**

^^This. Op you’ve clearly had a rough time with things but honestly, this appears to have been a genuine clumsy mistake. Yes it’s worth flagging to the receptionist for staff development but you seem intent on really laying into her. Honestly I’d sleep on it before composing and sending a complaint

GDPR!

@thickwoollytights If you need to be trained to realise that announcing someone's sensitive information in a roomful of people is a bad thing, you are totally in the wrong job.

I haven't looked it up but I would bet ANYTHING that in the job description for a GP receptionist, they would be asking for people who are capable of having good people skills and are capable of dealing with confidential information in a sensitive way, with an ability to exercise discretion.
These shouldn't be surprising qualities to ask of a receptionist in a medical setting.

Sounds like this individual would be better suited as a town crier.

That's horrific. I had similar the other week with a nurse giving me a piece of equipment I needed to use for tests in the waiting room and announcing to everyone what it was. I went home in tears. My mum ended up phoning and complaining because I was so upset.

Our surgery specifically states that no results will be given at re emotion due to confidentiality all results are only available over the phone.

I hope you are feeling better now. And make sure you complain.

Goodness, this is pretty basic if you are dealing with people's personal information all day.

My GP would only say it was all ok, or you need to book an appointment (or they had already got in touch with you).

@Endoftethermum1 too late, already sent, but why you would think I wasn’t capable of composing a perfectly civil and calm email I don’t know... you know I’m on here venting, but I certainly didn’t lay into anyone in my complaint. I merely stated that my confidentiality had been breached and laid out the consequences of that. And indeed as one of the pp said one of those consequences is that I have lost faith in my relationship with the gp practice which if I was a more vulnerable patient may well have impacted on my future heatlhcare, as it is I’m an articulate and generally confident person so it won’t change my attitude to the gp’s but certainly has towards the receptionists....

What a huge overreaction OP.

Thanks for your valuable contribution there catkin might be to you, not for me though, which is kind of the point don’t you think. You might make judgements all the time on what is or isn’t important to people, much like this receptionist did today, but, what she or you don’t know about my medical history affects how traumatic my hysterectomy was to me as an individual, because that piece of my medical history is private... or should be, which is the entire point. She might be dealing with patients who have severe mental health difficulties, people who have suffered infertility, people who have been abused or raped, and every further erosion of their boundaries and of their sense of security and faith in the medical profession may just push them over the edge into not seeking medical help, or worse. So I don’t think it’s an overreaction for someone to point this out to the very people who can reflect on their practices and improve the interface between patients and their healthcare providers

It does appear to have been a genuinely clumsy mistake, but what the receptionist was doing is an everyday part of her job. Making such a basic error and not even realising until it's pointed out to her means that hundreds of people at that surgery will almost certainly have been on the receiving end of poor pratice. Poor practice that is easily avoidable and should be pretty obvious to someone working in that setting.

OP YANBU to be angry at her and the practice (because it seems unlikely such basic poor practice goes unremarked upon unless there is too little concern about it). And YANBU to make a complaint.

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

Yes, a comprehension, confidentiality and humanity pass is not ideal.

@Hellbentwellwent No-one is suggesting that your hysterectomy wasn't traumatic or that your feelings regarding it are an overreaction. Yes, she should have shown more discretion, but the actual impact of her comment is very little. I doubt anyone else in the waiting room even cared until you made a deal of it.

Thanks everyone for all the reassurances that I’m not overreacting. I know I’m not, it’s simply unacceptable. The posters who think it’s all fine and dandy to spew out confidential information about people, I hope you never find yourself on the receiving end of something similar as I can assure you it’s not pleasant, and if you think that you really wouldn’t care then I feel sorry for anyone who’s information you may have to handle.

I’m off to enjoy some more wine. One benefit of no longer having a uterus is that I don’t need to worry about potentially being pregnant and not being able to lash into the booze when the fancy takes me! Silver linings and all that...

I'm shocked at some of these responses. People are talking absolute rubbish, it's got nothing to do with pressure on the NHS. I'm glad you've complained OP, she was extremely unprofessional.

Funny how any and all mistakes must be excused because the NHS is under pressure. So are a number of others but they can't just fuck up and not be pulled up on it.

Blimey!

It was very straightforward.

Q: Are my blood test results in?

A: Yes/No

Didn't need any more than that. And the surgery need to be aware that the setup is not suitable for discussing private information

Oh and OP, sorry you got the news that way.

Wow, I can't believe that people are saying you can't blame the receptionist for answering the question publicly when it was asked. A bit of common sense would tell you the OP had no idea what the receptionist was going to say and that the receptionist should have known the OP wouldn't want that shared with everyone in the waiting room.

Anyone with half a brain would have realised and said 'yes they have, there is a note here too but it's rather personal' then either whispered it or offered to step aside from their desk for a moment.

Careless and lacking in common sense and compassion.

Does your surgery off online access? If so go for it, you can see results online, order some prescriptions and other bits too. It's good that you've contacted the practice so they can at least speak to the staff and have some refresher training or something. But I agree with a previous post, GP practices aren't laid out for privacy, just like banks, post offices etc. Hope they get back to you soon