to think that doctor's receptionists should have a little bit of empathy?

[oldmcdonalds]

Yes I can appreciate they get a hard time from some members of the public, and I know its a generalisation, but usually if you are in a doctor's surgery you are likely to be ill, worried, stressed, nervous or all of the above!
It would be nice if they could appreciate that.

I had to leave this morning because she made me cry, over something that was easily fixable.
I'm now so worked up and just want to cry.

well im going to hide this thread but just before i do...

before i was a police officer i was a gp receptionist for a year
prior to that i was an optical assistant for 10 years.

by far the worst job i have had was gp receptionist. People abuse gp receptionists with impunity. It is a low paid, highly stressful position, and one that gets no backing from the partners usually despite you simply carrying out their orders.

you do theirbidding.
you get shouted at and abused
they (the doctor) takes a patient in and say "there there, what a nasty receptionist"
patient leaves thinking the receptionist is a twat and GP is god when in reality the receptionist is doing exactly what the partners want. They just dont get the flak for it, the receptionist does.

its a shit job. and i say that as a police officer, i get abused now, i get called from a pig to a dog, i confront people with weapons and knives, i work shit shifts and i rarely ever get thanks
but at least i get the support of my colleagues and my boss and i get a reasonable rate of pay for doing it.

as a gps receptionist i got abused for a pittance. i hated it. hated it with a passion. it is by far the worst job on the planet.

oh - and i am empathy personified.

my serg now thinks i am a fantastic communicator, people talk to me, i talk to them. i stay calm in a crisis, i think of my feet, and i absolutely empathise - even with people i probably shouldnt empathise with.

not all GP receptionists are horrible.
not all police officers are horrible.

cos ive done both jobs. and im rather nice. so there.

Bogeyface, it's not about facts which depend on which area you are in. It's about whether Oakmaiden's situation is very urgent, or not.

I'm genuinely surprised that anyone would be of the opinion that it isn't urgent, and be so unwavering about it.

The decision as to whether Oakmaiden should get the medication she needs as a matter of urgency - and what the risks are of her not getting it - are a matter of medical opinion, no?

204 posts before I managed to lose control and shout SYMPATHY!

Empathy is totally acceptable here, Boomerwang. Sympathy would also work, but no problem with the word empathy in that sentence.

I had a horrendous experience with receptionist with my DS, he was born around 4 weeks early and had spent first week in special care. He became very ill at 4 weeks old, wouldn't feed, hard to wake (knowing what I know now had many symptoms of septicaemia or meningitis) at the time I just knew it wasn't right, I eventually managed to get him to take a feed around 7.30am which was first in about 12 hours, then around 9 he was still listless, so having seen emergency doctor at midnight, and been sent home, we decided we needed a second opinion, so called our local doctors the receptionists response to my request for an emergency appointment was 'well if it was an emergency you would have called at 8.30 or called an ambulance" anyhow we turned up at surgery saw lovely highly professional doctor who promptly called us an ambulance and sent us to hospital blue light flashing etc!!! Always wonder if receptionist felt just a little bit bad??

Our receptionists are fine, bar one instance of a complete lack of ability for independent thought, but hey ho. I think most people can tell the difference between questions needed for triage purposes and those not, I know I can. I just say I'd rather not discuss it, if I'd rather not discuss it. My Aunt, a GP, says that is a perfectly acceptable response and if it isn't accepted then complain.

My last go surgery had the receptionist from hell, I complained several times and 7 years on she still works there. I moved surgeries as I felt I was putting off ringing when I really needed to see the gp because of her. Just yesterday I complained on behalf of a friend who had asked for an emergency appointment on Wednesday this week at my old gp, after seeing gp on Monday for a kidney infection, the antibiotics weren't working, her temp was sky high, she was shaking, vomiting and in agony. She was offered an appointment 6 days later next Tuesday and the receptionist had her in tears. I took her to a&e where she was promptly admitted and has been on iv antibiotics and saline for 3 days now due to the severity of the infection. I can't say enough good things about the reception team at my current gp who are patient, kind, sympathetic and professional but the woman at the old surgery is a right stroppy cow with a god complex and really should be doing a different job where she can't bully sick and vulnerable people.

SensitivityChip I think I'm the only person in the entire country who likes their surgery receptionist. Mine is lovely. As is my dentist. Perhaps I live in some kind of parallel universe. Admittedly it feels like one sometimes.

Nope mine are the same, they are helpful and friendly all the time and I've always been able to get an appt if needing one.

However it may be that we are at the same surgery and it is the only one where they are like this :o

I think it is more to do with the image of the job and the people who apply. I worked in a GP surgery years ago as a receptionist while a student nurse and was shocked by the unlimited access I had to people's notes and correspondence. Surely a job with this much responsibility should be a seen as a more professional job, such as a healthcare assistant. They have extensive training and also know their boundaries. Encouraging people who want to train further, for example to be a practice manager would be the way forward. The women I worked with all were there purely because of the convenient hours. because most surgeries are open until at least 6, many of them were part time (nothing wrong with that) and so could fit in their WI meetings, flower arrangements at the church etc around it. For the record, I rarely got any abuse, really only from people desperate for their methadone prescription or people in pain or very anxious and I don't think that is unreasonable as they would usually apologise after.

Not that I am saying that it is acceptable to abuse anyone, police or otherwise.

Thank you for commenting on my post. I know it is my fault I have run out - I am very disorganised. Well, that is probably not true. I am very organised with the children, and with my uni work - it is just doing things "for me" seem to get forgotten until it is too bloody late.

It has already been about a week that I have been without my ADs - so it isn't an EMERGENCY as such that I get them today. I could wait until Monday. But being without is making me feel really poorly - dizzy, lightheaded, irritable and much like a damp dishcloth. But I can struggle on. I just can't see any realistic way of getting into the Drs for the next couple of weeks either - as I said I am on placement currently doing my dissertation research. I have already had to take a day off because my son was ill. I can't take more off without it causing a huge issue. But I think I am probably going to have to.

I just wish they had bloody TOLD me rather than waiting for me to be able to go in before telling me.

Unfortunately the pharmacy we use is part of the surgery, so not likely to be helpful...

Honestly, ring NHS Direct, Oakmaiden. I love them, the people who do the triage are medically trained and they will come up with a solution for your area.

0845 4647. Easy peasy.

oakmaiden i'm pretty sure that the pharmacist you usually use will give you an emergency supply, say enough to get you through to Monday. My DH is a pharmacist and does this sometimes. I used to use an in-surgery pharmacy. They were actually a completely separate business.