to think that the receptionist at our GP surgery always asks why we need to see the doctor when we phone to make an appointment?

[astragirl]

Surely that's personal info, no? I so want to tell her to mind her own bloody business!

Oh and on confidnetiality (rant rant!) our recpectionists have an awful attitude to people who come in who don't speak good english and basically shout at them about how they've filled in forms wrong and that you need to do this now, it can be beyod awful.

YABU. The receptionist has to triage so all urgent cases can get to see the doc asap.

Also as different GPs may have more experience in one area of medicine, asking what you need when you phone can ensure you're getting the best care.

They're not being nosey, just doing their job. :)

GandalfyCarawak - that is a disciplinary offense and you should have made a formal complaint. Completely unacceptable IMO.

Te clerical staff in the surgery deal with all the records and correspondance, so the real issue is selecting suitable people for the job and ensuring they maintain patient confidentiality.

Part of my work entails booking hospital appointments over the phone. It's not always clear which Doctor the patient needs to see, so I do have to ask what they're being refered for. If I don't ask, and I just book them to first available appointment, it inevitably causes a delay for the patient.

That said, I don't need to hear anyone's life history, or all the gory details! I often get people trying to tell me far more than I want need to hear!

I am also not allowed to discuss any patient details outside of work, so even if you were my neighbour, the details of your bum boils are safe!

Thats outrageous Gandalfy, did you make a complaint?!

Sorry, cross posts with a lot of people. Gandalfy, I'm shocked! She would have been dragged over the coals if she'd done that at my work.

Well receptionists are bound by the same confidentiality agreement that clinical staff are.

If you give them an idea of what the problem is they may be able to get you in sooner with a nurse practitioner or practice nurse, or they may be able to put you into a particular clinic with a GPSI (GP with a Special Interest) who deals with that problem.

Some of you sound incredibly rude. You do realise that medical receptionists open the post, scan the letters, scdan and file notes, type up referrals, liaise with other agencies at the request of the GP or nurse? Telling them "it's none of their business" is just not true because it IS their business, it's their job.

Our receptionists have received some basic medical training to ensure that they can direct your call or book you to the appropriate person. The clinical staff develop flow charts and algorithms so the non-clinical staff can refer to them. They don't just make it up (well some might but that's not how it should be!)

They don't really care what you want to see the GP for you know.

They are just doing their jobs, although I will admit some receptionists do get very snippy.

Its not just about deciding if you can see the nurse or not, if you are making an appointment to get blood tests it can be better to have the appointment at a certain time of day, e.g. morning appointments for fasting blood tests and also to fit in with sample collection. Some people still think that you need to see a GP when you get a BFP but in many surgeries it is possible to make an appointment directly with the midwife. If the appointment is for a suspected infectious disease they may need to arrange alternative waiting area and/or make that appointment at the end of surgery. For nurses appointments then you will need a double appointment for certain things.

Receptionists are bound by the same rules of confidentiality. It may sound harsh but I doubt that they really care personally why you need to see the dr and in most cases will forget as soon as they have dealt with the request.

My friend who hates thinking she is causing a fuss and is always reluctant to go to the GP called once to get and appointment and requested an appointment the next week. When the receptionist asked and was told it was becasue she had woken up with one leg twice the size of the other and it was really hot and painful she went and spoke to the GP immediately and he arranged for her to get to A&E asap. She is thankful the receptionist did ask, otherwise she could have been dead by the time the appointment came round.

Your title makes no sense. No YABU to think things that are patently true.

We've had this thread so many times. They're trying to help you by getting you to see the person who is best equipped to deal with the issue. They're not really interested in salacious gossip or a description of your nasty piles.

At the point where they're asking you to describe your illness in front of a packed waiting room through the medium of mime, I'll fully support your right to whinge about it. Until then, unclench fgs.

I just wonder why some surgeries do this and others do not? But then I book online anyway so a doddle

Doesn't bother me as long as they are polite. The only run in with a receptionist I've had was when I turned up to the drs 10 minutes early for my 6 week post natal check and was told to wait outside in the rain (they are closed for an hour at lunch unless you have an appointment). They let me in after I moaned but were really huffy!

As others have said, you may not like it but they are just trying to get you to see the best person. For example when I rang up and said I wanted to talk to someone about PND I was booked in to see the most lovely GP with a background in depression. When I ring for my dcs and I am unsure if it is something that the nurse practicioner can cover or not I can tell the receptionist and she will tell me and they can be seen by the appropriate person in a timely fashion.

I hate seeing bad attitudes towards gp receptionists, it's one of my pet hates! They are trying to do a job (not a nice one at times, I would imagine) and are just following instructions - the least people could do is be polite! I seriously doubt they are interested in your medical problems, much less looking for salacious gossip to regale the rest of the office with! If they are asking then it is for a reason, most probably because they have been told to!

I can assure you, the receptionists at my parents surgery ARE rude! My parents are not rude and have been concerned for other patients (esp elderly) the way they have been treated when in there. Mine are really nice.

Yes and when a receptionist is trying to discuss your personal medical problems in front of a packed waiting room, it IS a breach of confidentiality.

Ooh gps receptionists... Don't ya just love em?! Ours have got better recently thank goodness. There is a particularly nasty one who if she could, would get you to lick her boots in order to get an appointment.

They used to do a triage thing where a nurse called to see if you really needed to see a dr. It used to make me so mad. My child has a seriously high fever, won't stop crying and has a history of uti's and ear infections... I KNOW he needs to see a bloomin dr!

Rant over

ASTRA

Its up to you whether you provide info to receptionist. "Sorry its very personal" should be ok cheers "Gabby"

I always thought it was incase you could see the nurse instead?

Just say it's personal, or "yes, I am at work at the moment", it's not like they're going to refuse you an appointment if you don't give a reason!

I didn't complain, which I bitterly regret now. I felt that if I complained things would be awkward and they might make things difficult for me... Turns out, I had to complain about another receptionist at the same surgery a few months later. I had terribly sore nipples after DS wa born, and the midwife phoned in to the secretary asking for a prescription for lansinoh. Secretary copied this down as lansonil, and the doctor didn't query this (idiot.) Lansonil box and tube had no writing or instructions, but midwife had said that I should put on the cream and didn't have to wash it off before baby fed. THANK GOD I was paranoid about my precious PFB, and smelt a rat. Lansonil is a muscle rub that can cause major problems if swallowed (especially by a 2-week-old.)

This pissed me off.

What pissed me off even more was when I phoned the surgery to say what had happened, the bitch receptionist said "But why are you phoning me about it now? Your son is fine, isn't he? I don't know what you're complaining about."

Fucking. Cow. She still works there, I am told.

If I am asked by a receptionist, I always say that I would prefer to discuss my problem with a health care professional - thank you!
I'm not convinced that the receptionist is responsible for prioritising patients.

I used to work for a GP and we had to ask patients what was wrong when they asked for an emergency appointment. Partly it was so that children with rashes could be isolated and seen first (infection control) and partly because the emergency slots were shorter than regular appointments so it gave the GPs a head start. The emergency appointments are always abused though. We had one patient who asked for an emergency appointment every time he had a sniffle, the GPs had repeatedly asked him not to so he'd phone and say things like he had chest pains or a testicular lump then he'd turn up with a slight head cold and the doctor would be furious.

That's the thing chinacup. There are some people who don't understand how things work and others who abuse the system. As a result these steps have to be taken otherwise there would be even lower availability of appointments for those who need them.Before I get flamed I am not talking about anyone who has posted on here.

If you feel you can't say what is wrong then I think it is acceptable to say it is private and I can't really discuss it.

I don't think receptionists should be complained about for asking why you need to see the Dr. However on occasions when they are rude to patients then I think they deserve an official complaint being made against them.

My GP's receptionist is also his nurse and she asks so she can schedule you correctly, a lot of the time you can see her so that make sense. Sadly she is also a complete harpy and I hate speaking to her, my last visit I got told off for making wet marks on the floor with the buggy. You could try saying it was personal but then you'd get an appointment sometime next decade.

The reason this happens is that GP practices are trying to ration out their appointments to ensure there is reasonable access. However, the implementation that most of them choose to use is pretty crappy because it makes patients feel uncomfortable and isn't particularly effective.

Receptionists aren't the right people to do triage in this way. Triage should be done by the most senior clinician available it's faster, safer and more likely to be accepted by patients. Receptionists like those at Sidge's practice terrify me that "basic medical training" is a perfect example of a little knowledge being a dangerous thing, and encourages receptionists to tell patients that their requests are "wrong" in some way. The algorithms are completely inadequate to the task at hand. Algorithms work well for blue-light services because the range of life-threatening emergencies is much more limited than the full range of medical conditions, and because massive international effort has gone into developing them for this purpose. The same is not true of general practice.

That's why there are some practices (like Stour, in Devon) that have GPs answering the phones. A third of the time, the GP tells the patient how to care for themselves without coming in. Another third of the time, the GP says "come in and see the nurse". And the final third, the GP gets the patient to come in to see a doctor.

But you only really need to do triage at all if you've not got the right number of appointments at the right time in the first place. Lots of places provide good access without any triage at all.

Incidentally, Sidge, this isn't true:
"Well receptionists are bound by the same confidentiality agreement that clinical staff are."
Receptionists sign a confidentiality agreement with a practice. But nurses and GPs are bound by NMC and GMC codes of conduct, and risk being unable to practise their profession if they breach the rules. The bar is much higher. Patients by and large don't want to disclose private medical information to non-clinical staff, and that is perfectly reasonable.