Why are so many GP receptionists rude?

[Jenna2212]

I don't think I've ever heard of a surgery where people have positive things to say about the receptionists. At a time when people are most vulnerable and in need, why do GP surgeries tend to recruit such hostile people to greet sick people?

Have you had any bad experiences with your GP surgery? Feel free to post below. 💊

Yes unfortunately, and we’re in a nice area in North London, it’s really not very nice at all. If you look at the Google reviews for Gp surgeries though, they all tend to have less than three stars so is it any surprise.

A (non medically trained..) GP receptionist accused my then young teen DD of drinking too many energy drinks as her vitamin B12 levels had come back high. She failed to realise that DD is actually prescribed B12 injections every 3 months for life as she physically cannot absorb it from dietary sources or any non existent energy drinks🤦‍♀️ Her levels would of course been artificially high since she’d had an injection a few days before the bloods. I put a complaint in and advised her that it would be best to read a patient’s notes first before making false accusations.

Not recently but years ago I had facial swelling caused by kidney issues. I was trying to make an appointment at the desk to see a doctor and the receptionist said you don't look sick to me. Was diagnosed with stage 4 kidney disease 2 weeks later.

As you know, we here in the States like to copy everything you British folks do.
I go to a busy GP office, where several doctors have their practices.
I walked up to the desk to check in, and the snotty little girl said, “Dr. M. isn’t here today. There’s a voicemail on your phone.”
I pulled my phone out of my handbag, checked it, and said no there isn’t. I held up my phone to show her. I doubt they called anybody.
She silently handed me an appointment card with a date scheduled for the following month - I needed a prescription filled that day.
She refused to speak to after that, so I’m outta luck until the end of May.
They should all be required to attend charm school.

I think it depends on the surgery, bit unfair to paint all doctors receptionists as horrible.
The last one I was at the receptionist was an utter cow, think she was on some sort of a power trip 🙄😂
Where I am now though (I changed surgery) both receptionists are lovely, friendly and helpful.

I’ve been at the same gp for 29 years.
In the 90s to 2010s we had an amazing receptionist- she remembered people and knew who needed help so would fit you in.
She retired in 2015- since then I’m lucky if they answer the phone.
If you get an appointment- when you attend they have faces like slapped arses and will leave you waiting for ages.
They recently installed a check in screen- that’s more friendly than they are!

To be honest I have experienced rude and amazing ones…at the same practice! It may even have been the same person.

generally speaking, receptionists likely deal with large volumes of the public in varying states of distress/receiving bad news etc so are probably desensitised to it all. I’m not saying that justifies them being rude, more that they probably have developed a thick skin and are on auto pilot mode to ensure the smooth running of the practice. It must be hectic having their phone lines blocked up as soon as they open etc I imagine some of the rudeness might come from stress

Ours are nice, but now we have to book most things online and use a stupid germ ridden touch screen.

Im now at a gp where the receptionists are so helpful and professional.

But my old gp - dear god. The receptionists were so, so rude and would snap how the nhs is under so much pressure if you ever asked for anything as if they were on the frontline if a busy a&e. Then you'd go in and they'd all be sitting about, chatting about their holidays.

I think maybe a lot of the time its people who have never really had a career, wanted a nice easy pt admin role and not particularly good at handling pressure.

They’re really nice at my medical centre, I’ve been with that one for over 20 years and I don’t recall any nasty ones there. The only time I’ve seen or heard any of them get stroppy was when patients have been rude to them first.

To get an appointment you have to ring at 8am. Then you’re 15th in the queue. Poor receptionists have to come into work and faced with that every morning. I don’t want to talk to anyone for a good while that’s a brutal start to the day. Would make anyone miserable

Some people are naturally rude and some people are trying to do their job and have unreasonable people who take the attitude 'I demand and if you dont give me what I want you are rude' or lots in between so it depends on how a situation is looked at

I had a similar.ilar experience but managed to put the receptionist firmly in her place & she's been civil ever since.

i advised her that she shouldn't be making unqualified medical assessments as it put her at risk of being sued. Particularly as she wasn't insured against patient complaints.

The GPs are insured in case they are sued but receptionists aren't so the legal bills would be high. That thought scared her and she gave me an appointment and I've used it twice and works every time.

The ones at my practice are lovely, I'm lucky there, and it comes from the top - the entire practice has an ethos of being properly kind and helpful. So it can be done. But I've worked in a GP practice and seen the abuse that receptionists take day in day out. Some practices prioritise employing people who can 'handle' that kind of abuse and don't support their staff in the same way. To be fair, a lot just focus on employing who they can get, the wages are like that.

I would definitely complain though. It doesn't have to be that way.

You could also say, why are patients so rude?

Wow!! I was just thinking how overrun some of these surgeries are, now, and that many of them must be over worked and stressed, but NO! No excuse for that!! Just plain rude, and unprofessional!
I hope your kidney disease is being managed and you are feeling much better 🙏

I work in customer service (non GP) and honestly, the general public are largely so unremittingly rude from dawn to dusk that I’m not surprised really.
It could be down to unprofessionalism, it could be lack of training, it could be that they actually don’t give a shit. But if they deal with half the absolute entitled wankers that I do on a daily basis then I can’t blame them.

I understand that a lot of people calling GPs are upset and in distress. The fact that the current system isn’t fit for purpose isn’t their fault. Plus they get don’t get paid much either.

We don’t do customer service well in the UK, I agree. Most people with the skills necessary to do it have wisely chosen a job where they don’t have to speak to hundreds of ranting people every day, and good luck to them.

I'm not in the UK and the receptionists at my GP are fine. However I have a few friends who work for a medical centre and they get a lot of abuse from patients.

It is true, actually, and they don't get paid nearly enough to put up with it.
Considering there are signs everywhere saying 'We will not tolerate abusive or threatening behaviour' it is, obviously, a problem!
It's also, probably a 'knock on' effect. The receptionist gets a few rude and impatient callers and has less patience for the next one, who in turn, just thinks she/he is rude!

All of this. Even on this thread posters sneering that they're people who haven't had a career and therefore can't handle stress (some of the rudest, most on edge people I know have had careers and can't handle stress) or are threatened with being sued to get to the top of the queue. I think it's probably a combination of a massive workload; dealing with rude, entitled people; not getting into conversations with people trying to get unfair priority (lots of people think they're a special case); not getting into long conversations with people who want to tell them their life story (they simply don't have time for this). I've heard people be really rude to receptionists, people in shops, air stewards etc. many people are arseholes.

well at least a receptionist will be 'put in their place' so not sure where to begin with that one

At our surgery all the receptionists are lovely and will always go out of the way to help, including when we left it a bit late to get our travel vaccines and they organised an appointment for all four of us to go together. It’s also easy to get an appointment. It’s a small surgery though.
Our old surgery next door was not as good. Much bigger and more impersonal service. After waiting two hours in the waiting room with a feverish toddler we decided to change.

GP receptionists had a poor reputation when I was a kid, it's not a recent phenomenon caused by those phone systems.

Before my cancer diagnosis they were exceptionally rude but now they’re lovely to me.

And yes the GBP can be arseholes. But of course people might be abrupt, stressed or worried and not on their best form when worried about their health or that of someone close to them. And many people are also vulnerable, confused, aren't the best communicators to start with or English is not their first language. I've sat there and heard a receptionist be rude to patient after patient, and no-one was remotely rude in return.

I go to a hospital oncology centre with a relative regularly and the receptionists there are all warm, friendly, helpful and efficient. It's a breath of fresh air.