Eyeroll moment of the day...

[MarmaladeSideDown]

I'm sitting here at home and the landline rang but stopped before I got to it, so I dialled 1471 to find out who it could be (family members often call it as my mobile reception here is rubbish). It was a local number and seemed slightly familiar to me, so I searched online and discovered it was my GP surgery, so I rang them to find out what they wanted.

The receptionist answered saying how could she help so I explained about the missed call. "Well it wasn't me", she said. Oh right, I thought. Here we go.

She then asked for my name and I said that DH and I both lived here and gave her my name and his. "Well, no-one has called you" she said so I suggested that perhaps the call was for DH. He has a hospital appointment tomorrow for investigation into an ongoing condition, so I wondered if it might be about that, but since he isn't here at the moment I thought I'd better find out in case he needs to contact them. "Well I'm sorry" says she in a very officious voice. "I can't give you any information about anyone else". I pointed out that it was they who had rung first, and I was just trying to be helpful in calling them back in case it was urgent. Not good enough apparently, and she refused point blank to even tell me whether it was him they were trying to contact.

What a pointless waste of my time that was.

Has anyone else felt themselves rolling their eyes out loud at the brick wall of officialdom today?

I never call people back when I've missed a call, especially not GP surgery! There's 30+ people that work there! They'll call back if they want me, such hassle for reception to check notes and send a message to everyone - did anyone call Mrs x.

@WrylyAmused and the person on the phone didn’t react to ‘im dead’ as the reason to close the account? 😂😂🤯🤯

Can't the GP fire them? Where I am unless in a hospital, Doctors surgeries are generally private practice (not private as in private health, but individually set up by the Dr who is their own boss) but bulk bill the government (meaning its free for the patient). It means the doctor is responsible for hiring/firing receptionists.

Yes she was. Read the OP's posts. The OP wasn't asking or expecting the Receptionist to give out private information. She has said this over TWENTY TIMES now on this thread.

For the 21st time, OP wanted to tell the receptionist to call him on his mobile, but the receptionist was rude and TALKED OVER the OP and would not let her speak.

No. I assume it went something like:
Script says "ask reason why", they got reason why, at no point did it pass through brain...

They said not, and had to keep it free for my ex, and it had to be him who would have to contact them to say he didn't want it. The bills had been in joint names, and this was quite a few years ago now.

Did you miss the bit where I said that DH has a lot of health conditions and was waiting for test results, and that it was possible they needed to speak to him urgently?

They were in the right, though. He has a right to privacy regarding his own health.

This is a large GP practice with over a dozen GPs and is a partnership. That makes the receptionists their employees. In a business wholly aimed at caring for people who could be physically or mentally unwell, or worried, confused, or simply expect common decency and politeness when they call, I'm quite sure the boss of any business would be severely dischuffed to discover that some of their employees were being sullen, rude, unco-operative and downright argumentative towards people.

RTFT.
For the hard of thinking: OP was trying to tell them to call her husband's mobile.
That is a perfectly normal interaction.

Trigger warning before anyone reads this and gets upset.

I found my dad dead, (definitely 100% dead and gone, a minimum of a week ago) in his home, I was in a bit of a state due to the shock so I phoned the 999 and got put through to the ambulance service. All I remember is a nice lady asking if the patient was breathing, I screamed and sobbed and eventually said no, he's dead. She asked me if he was sitting up/alert and responsive, I said I hope not, because he's dead. She asked me if I could check his pulse, I said I could but he's definitely dead. Eventually she told me to stay with him and try to keep him warm and comfortable until the paramedics arrived. When they came they went inside the house, they came back out to tell me they're awfully sorry but he's dead. I can look back now with a wry chuckle because it was bizarre.

PoorUncleBarry · Today 11:51

Bloody Hell, that's absolutely terrible. I suppose they have to read off a tick list and only a medical person can be trusted to certify that someone is actually dead.

I'm quite aware that Receptionists are their employees but the correct way to raise a complaint is with the Practice Manager not the GP which is what the poster I replied to suggested.

@SinnerBoy absolutely, they have to follow the protocol but after a week it's kind of obvious to even the daftest layperson lol

They do, I swear to God they do. Also, they only recruit from a (thankfully) small pool of those who are slightly dim but with an impressive streak of self righteousness.

I had a GP receptionist carelessly announce my medications to a waiting room full of people (one was our next door neighbour). I descended on her like the very wrath of God, citing GDPR and patient confidentiality, only to be primly informed that 'It didn't matter because none of the people would understand what my medications were for'.

WTAF?

It didn't matter because none of the people would understand what my medications were for'.

What bollocks. Some could be medically or pharmaceutically trained. Some could be on the same medication. Or they could Google. I'd complain to the surgery about that.

I've had a GP consultation before, where the GP has then said I need to make an appointment for X days time, and come back again. I've then gone to the receptionist's desk and told them that the doctor said I need to come back again to be seen on X date, so could they make an appointment for me. The receptionist took great pleasure in refusing, and demanded I call on the morning of the day I needed the appointment instead. Fat chance of success on that one.

Sorry, don't know how I managed to quote you on that one, and can't delete it.

If you knew she couldn't give you any information, why did you push her to tell you if it was about his hospital appointment, and why did you expect her to give you the information? For all she knows, there is something private about it and she would be blamed for telling you about it. Or it could have been about something else - you say you know it wasn't about an appointment there, but you can't know for certain. Suppose it was and your husband didn't want you to know?

You complain about a waste of your time, but they didn't actually ask you to phone them. You could have made it less of a waste of time by volunteering your husband's phone number to them.

No, she wasn't. If she was, she would just have given them the number regardless.

RTFT.

I didn't ask her any questions like that at all. hth

The GPs tell the Receptionists how they want their appointment system to work. It's the wording which is the problem as people take it literally. "Ring for a review in about 2 weeks time". Patient rings exactly in 2 weeks time to find out the GP they spoke to or saw originally is off that day. Or they ring for a medication review the day of their last tablet, again GP not in work or routine slots gone.

The word appointment in a GP surgery these days doesn't always mean it's face to face. I think the word consultation should be used instead. Everyone should accept it will be a telephone call in the first instance whether they will be dealt with over the phone or advised to come in to see the GP face to face.

My GP can make their own appointments - we've sat in the surgery checking the availability for 10 days time. But then if I ask for an appointment, I am offered a range of options by phone or in person, depending on which they decide I from my initial request.

They talked all over her and she had no chance. Are you the recaption ist? OP has explained this several times in great derail

🙄 Indeed

It wasn't 'ring for a review' it was 'come back in person in two weeks'. I'm not going into details of what my health issue was, but it required an in-person appointment.

I'm sure that the GPs tell their staff how they want the systems to work. I'm also sure that they would expect their staff to be polite, courteous and professional when dealing with patients.

I was giving examples. The GP said the word appointment which you expected to be able to book to come in to see the GP in the timescale given. It doesn't seem it is the way the surgery works. If the GP had said for example "I'd like to have a consultation with you in 4 to 7 days time, ring Reception to book a consultation". Or the GP could have booked the appointment themself and given you either a face to face appointment day and time or even said "I'll ring you sometime on Wednesday for a follow up consultation". I'm sure you would have been fine with that but the GP didn't.

The GP told me to go and make an appointment to come back on X date. I left the consulting room, walked over to the desk, said to the receptionist that the doctor wanted to see me again on X date, and the receptionist refused to make the appointment. What part of that simple sequence of events do you not comprehend?