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. 💊

My GP receptionists are lovely! Whenever I ring they are patient and kind! I went in a while ago as couldn’t get through on phone and was worried about my baby, the receptionist had no appointments but went round the drs until she found one who could fit us in a bit later. I don’t know how they put up with what they do tbh!!

Ours our lovely. So helpful, if you explain to them what the issue is, any urgency etc they will do their best to help. I know for some reason this gets people's backs up having to tell the receptionist what is wrong, as they think it's none of their business, but in my experience is the best route to getting the treatment you need.

If I've had a reason that I urgently needed to see someone, they've made it happen. I can email them, do an econsult because it's less urgent - they will respond within about 30 minutes usually and will have booked me a non-urgent appointment for the first available time.

I can't fault them.

I can´t believe someone would actually be so crass as to make such a comment to you. You were nicer than I would have been.

Yes - I think it may be (happy to be corrected!) one of those roles that people who want an easy, unpressured p/t job think will suit them, when in fact it's a high-pressure job which requires professional discretion and excellent people skills. The stakes are high, too - you're not just taking orders for meals!

Our have been a mixture over the years. Now I'd say they were great and very helpful. But we live near the surgery and I usually walk in to talk to them which always gets better results. I don't mean I'm pushy - I'm the least assertive person you could meet - just that face-to-face it's much easier for both sides to discuss appointments etc.

I'm the sort of person brought up not to 'bother the doctor'. I'm also a terrible hypochondriac, so am well-informed about symptoms. Therefore I don't bother the surgery unless I'm seriously concerned (breast lumps, dodgy skin lesions etc). Therefore I feel annoyed when the receptionist asks 'Is it urgent?' I really, really only phone the doctor's when it IS urgent. I don't go with a cold, as some of my friends have been known to do!

Unfortunately, over the years and a few different doctor's surgeries (as I've moved) I have come across quite a few receptionists who are less than pleasant. Curt seems to be the main theme but some have been downright rude or difficult. Currently, it's a bit of a mix and I had an incident with one charmer recently who was obviously having a bad day and looking for a fight.
I've also had a receptionist being obstructive when I was trying to order a repeat prescription because I couldn't spell the name of the medicine perfectly. As Eric Morecambe might have said I had all the right letters just not necessarily in the right order! It was clear what I was referring to but bloody hell did she make it difficult.

@Gertieblue @LoveFridaynight Yes however if you were spoken to the way that some GP receptionists are spoken to by the public day in, day out, you might well find yourself snapping too.

Not saying teachers have it any easier of course, or that it's ever OK to be rude, and I know teenagers are no walk in the park, but they are kids and still developing.

But there does need to be a bit of empathy on both sides.

Sometimes the public are horrible and entitled, and healthcare isn't quite the same as retail either. It's higher stakes, for one thing. Pretty much every time I go to the GP I see some unhappy person having a go at the receptionist.

I don't know what you mean - I have been spoken to that way and probably far worse day in and day out for over twenty years as a secondary school teacher - by both students and often their parents.

Unless the receptionist is just reading the notes the doctor has wrote then she shouldn’t be guessing or assuming anything

A friend of mine used to be a GP’s receptionist. She was generally a great and very popular person, but I was appalled on a visit ( we no longer lived anywhere near) to hear her openly joking about a neighbour’s medical condition - e.g piles! - which she knew about only from their notes.
We didn’t know the person from Adam but her husband certainly did. It was ages ago but I still wish I’d said something much stronger than than the fairly mild remark I made. Not that she’d have taken any notice, I’m sure she’d just have laughed.

A lot of the problem is that there simply aren't enough appointments for the people who need them, never mind the people who want one.

I have had a couple of incidents where receptionists have done the whole 'computer says no' thing to me, whilst I was looking after their patient. The worst one was going to the surgery to get a prescription changed so that we could increase the pain relief for a palliative patient, simple enough task, didn't require a GP visit, all they had to do was change the upper limit for the pain relief, been on the upper limit for quite a while, needing to take lots of breakthrough pain relief, very short prognosis, no other reasons for increase in pain. Got told that they couldn't even ask the GP because the computer had reached its limit on tasks !
I remained incredibly polite, but it was really difficult trying to advocate for their patient who as dying and in pain, whilst dealing with someone who would not look beyond the 'system'. We got there in the end, I did have to say that I would stand there until we had figured out a solution, (kindly and with a smile), and was rescued by one of their colleagues who had overheard the interaction and went and physically spoke to the GP between patients.

Yes, if you read my post, I am agreeing that teenagers can be little s*@$s (and parents not much better), and I doubt anyone envies the job of a secondary teacher these days. It's great if you can keep your cool and I also wouldn't blame teachers for snapping with the pressure they are currently under for little reward and recognition. It's sort of part and parcel of the job when you work with teenagers, though, and it's easier to forgive a teenager who is still a child than (e.g.) a grown man shouting at a receptionist who's just trying to do their job because he's entitled and can't control his temper.

GP receptionists often have the equivalent of a stream of unhappy and critical parents to deal with constantly, day in and day out, for things out of their control, and I am not surprised they might snap under the pressure.

As someone above also pointed out, a GP receptionist (unlike a teacher) might have gone into the job expecting something relatively low pressure, and might be forgiven for not having expectations (or training) of dealing with angry and unhappy people all day. They are being thrown a lot of curveballs with the current state of the NHS, long waiting lists, and just how upset everyone is.

I'm not saying it's OK for anyone to be rude and I've also been on the receiving end of GP receptionists with short thrift who I've felt were unjustifiably rude to me.

I'm simply saying that a little empathy on all sides goes a long way.

The nicest receptionists have either been in A&E or at the hospital path lab.

In recent months I have had many A&E visits because of DM. Every time I have had to go they have always greeted me sympathetically and escorted me through in person. Some of this is probably practical, our local A&E is labyrinthine

In the path lab I am a frequent but emergency flyer so I always make sure I have forms ready and am more than happy to sit on the 'naughty step' and wait to be fitted in between appointments.

My lovely, lovely Dad died 2 months ago. At the end of last year, unable to take anything orally due to being ravaged with cancer, suffering with sky high sugars due to acutely diagnosed steroid induced diabetes, a socking great pressure sore meaning he couldn't sit comfortably but didn't have the energy to get up and relieve said pressure sore, and despite cushions and dressings was in agony most of the time, was in his GP surgery reception waiting to see the nurse. We needed to be shown how to administer insulin.
For those of you who are unaware, poorly controlled sugars means, amongst other things, a raging thirst. And the poor, poor man couldn't drink anything due to all, all, ALL the cancer affecting his swallow. All he could do was rinse and spit and try desperately to relieve the agony.
We didn't have any water with us. It was a mad dash to the GP to see the nurse, as of course she only worked every other Tuesday when the moon is in the third house of Capricorn, so we had bundled him, painfully and wincingly, into the car and I had driven like a loon to get there on time.
He was desperate for something to 'drink', so I asked the GP receptionists if they had any water, or a fountain, or anything?
One of them, sitting at the desk, water fountain behind her next to a window, looked me dead in the eye and said, 'no'.
I hope she never has to rely on the kindness of strangers when her world is falling apart.

Do you not have any compassion for elderly and vulnerable people? We all know that receptionists do not make the rules but surely a little common sense goes a long way. Time and time again l hear about elderly people, the very people who tend to have the most issues with their health, having problems getting through to doctors' surgeries to make necessary appointments. Many people in this group are not comfortable with computers and they are also the group most likely to not want to make a fuss or "trouble the doctor." A little kindness goes a very long way.

Omg that is absolutely awful. I'm so sorry that's horrendous I hope you complained. Bloody disgusting.

I did read your post - it's this bit I was taking issue with: Yes however if you were spoken to the way that some GP receptionists are spoken to by the public day in, day out, you might well find yourself snapping too.

I didn't understand the use of 'if' when I literally do that every day.

But anyway, I don't want to argue - I just think that part of public facing jobs is the ability to try and be patient and polite, even in difficult circumstances. I haven't always found that with many GP receptionists, but as a PP has said, there are rude people in every job.

I used to be a 999 call handler for the ambulance service.

Honestly, if GP receptionists have to put up with the same level of rudeness we used to have to put up with (from people in non emergency situations - I don't judge people in actual emergency situations for their words or behaviour), they're bloody saints and I don't blame them for being sharp.

We have two main receptionists at my GP; one is sharp but very efficient and the other is lovely. Never had an issue with either.

No sign of the OP returning
strange that

The receptionists are my surgery are always lovely to me.

maybe it’s how you speak to them.

Well yes, we could argue the minutiae in the differences between the way a teenager might speak to a teacher and the way an angry/ unreasonable patient might speak to a GP receptionist, whether one is easier or harder to deal with than the other, who has the harder job, whether you are spoken to in quite the same way as a GP receptionist.

At the end of the day both jobs are hard - with teaching it's just more expected that it goes with the territory.

GP receptionists have been really thrown into the unknown recently and are dealing with frankly a complete shit show and bearing the brunt of decisions made by higher powers.

It’s really strange because I think different people do different roles at my surgery ! I had a rude lady ring me back about blood test results ! But I was pleasantly surprised to have a fab experience when I popped into the surgery there was a bloke receptionist and he was nice and sitting next to him was a lady and she was super friendly as well !!
I think the newer receptionists probably know they had a bad name as gp receptionists so making more of an effort to be friendly I find the old school ones a bit Karen like and I feel like they try to push u into losing your patience ! X

I don't want to argue the minutiae of anything. I just didn't want to be told that I couldn't imagine what it must be like.

Our system you have to call between 8.30 and 9.15 am to sit on the phone and wait , you could be 90 th in the queue.
However it’s all hands on deck for that 45 mins and the queue goes down quickly.
often you can’t get an appointment that day and have to call again the next day.
The reception and admin staff at our GP surgery aren’t rude ever but it is very difficult to get an appointment .
i have had the misfortune to be at an appointment with an extremely rude GP though !
She made me doubt myself after shouting at me and saying I hadn’t even ordered or picked up my prescription, I left really quite confused saying that’s odd as I have definitely taken it daily .When home I checked and found my prescription with the date label on and that meant she was wrong , very wrong ..I ought to have complained but I never did .

They are probably sick of dealing with with arseholes who waste gp appointments. My surgery receptionists are lovely.

The receptionists at my practice can be a little rude initially. I assume they've experienced lots of patients who are being quite dickish so just expect you to be too. But if you're nice and polite and treat them with respect they usually respond in kind

Same as any other customer service worker. Even when I'm in a bit of a frustrating situation trying to sort phone or banking issues or something that is not the fault of the person you're talking to