To think doctors receptionists should be given a break

[Lucyellensmum100]

No, im not a doctors receptionist and yes, some of them (thankfully the minority) are bitches. But on the whole they do a difficult job and it really irks me that the general attitude is that they are the dragon on the end of the phone.

I have worked as a veterinary receptionist, which whilst quite different had similar issues.

I was expected to make a decision based on what the client told me whether an urgent appointment would be offered. If i client SAID it was urgent, then it was treated as such and the first available appointment offered. It was helpful to try and get as much information as possible to decide what appointment was the most appropriate. I often used to say to clients "lets see fluffy today" as some people don't like to push for appointments so i would always try and make sure those cases were seen. I wasn't trying to be an armchair vet!

The thing is, there are only so many hours in a day and I was not trying to be difficult if i refused an appointment right there and then - I just couldnt do it, or more often than not id have the vet standing over me making throat cutting gestures to warn me not to make anymore appointments that day as they had an urgent meeting golf to attend to after they had finished their consulting times. Id get it in the neck from the clients and then when the vet finally did condescend to seeing them, they would be oh so polite and "thankyou for seeing me, we tried to get an appointment yesterday but your receptionist woudlnt allow it" I can't help but wonder if this happens to Drs receptionists too, more so in small practices i imagine.

Generally our clients were lovely, but some people could be so rude, ranging from condescending to downright abusive, I was called a cunt on more than one occasion - I wasn't i was actually very well liked by the decent sane clients. I'd feel terrible having to refuse people but what can I do if the vet is refusing to see peoples pets or there simply WASN'T a space and i already had a waiting room full of people waiting hours to be Fitted in. The very same people who would complain about being kept waiting because they insisted on being seen straight away!

***
On the other hand:

I think that the current system of having to ring for an "urgent" appointment or "emergency" is pants, you try and make an appointment and the receptionist will offer one in three weeks time, but then counter it by saying, "if you ring in the morning and make an urgent appointment you will get seen tomorrow if you managed to get through on time" So there you are 8am, usually whilst trying to get the kids ready for school trying to make an "urgent" appointment, which ok, isnt life or death, but really needs to be seen in the next few days rather than few weeks! This is not the receptionists fault though! This need to change.

I do often find myself having to be very firm with the receptionists at my mums surgery, as unless you persist you will not be given an appointment. Id much rather be asked what the problem is and an appropriate solution be offered, but Drs receptionists don't do this. So its very black and white, theres either an appointment or there isn't. This isnt't the receptionists fault.

"Boney receptionists are told they must ask so the Dr can decide whether they're willing to see them or not/whether they need to see a specialist GP/nurse is needed etc."

If that´s the case-why don´t they ask when the appointment is made (perhaps on the phone)-instead of in person & in front of others.

I often used to say what it was for-if a smear or repeat prescription for example.

Most of the receptionists I have met are pretty nice, all the ones at my current surgery are nice and helpful.

At the last surgery one of them was a bitch and I dreaded getting her on the phone, it was always a nightmare. She was always rude and difficult. She wouldn't even consider making an appointment around working hours even if you were willing to wait two to three weeks for such an appointment to be available.

On one particular occasion I was in to have a wound cleaned and dressed, the nurse asked me make an appointment on a particular day to get it done again.

I went out and asked for one and I got interrupted mid sentence to be told snottily that I couldn't just have an appointment when ever I wanted one and she would see when she could fit me in which would be sometime in the next two to three weeks. I had to have the nurse come out and point out my infected wound did need sorting every three days.

I wasn't rude to her (or any of the others) and am generally happy to answer questions about what I want an appointment for because sometimes they can send me to the nurse which is less of a wait.

Thank you gravy

Really Pacific? I haven't really looked into it tbh but in my mind I guess it made sense, although I really didn't know what they thought I could sue them for. The practise manager did make it clear the apology was from the receptionist and not from the practice and she pointed out they couldn't apologise to me as that would be them accepting some sort of blame for 'the incident'. I wonder why they didn't apologise too then because the lot of them were a bunch of arsewipes and were protecting their own.

Diddl I assumed the poster was asked when making the appointment. Maybe misread it.
If a patient arrived for an appointment with no info for why the were there I'd just assume the didn't want to leave an info, which is up to them obviously. Unfortunatelty that sometimes means they're sent away by the Dr as they actually needed to see someone else/or something has been ordered in from pharmacy etc. Asking once you arrive is pointless.

"Asking once you arrive is pointless."

"had an appointment to see the dr upon arrival, she was asked why she needed the appointment by the receptionist."

Reads to me as if they were asked upon arrival.

missy: "they couldn't tell me about any action that may or may not have been taken due to confidentiality laws"

Hmm, that sounds a bit dodgy to me, though I'm not an expert. If you make a formal complaint against a doctor or a nurse, then it will be investigated and you will get a letter telling you what action was taken. Perhaps receptionists are different.

It is ironic, though, that the receptionist's confidentiality is protected, while yours, as a patient, is not, and you're expected to tell the receptionist what is wrong with you.

YANBU I used to work in Customer Services. It made me hate people.

People can behave and speak dreadfully to those in the service industry. I expect cuntishness is a good defence mechanism. Unfortunately I was always too polite to try it.

Missy, I am v certain about 'apology does not = accepting liability'.
In fact, a hearfelt apology for something that went wrong, often avoids law suits as most people don't really want compensation, but the assurance that the problem will be rectified/not repeated.
And in your case, as you said, what on earth would you have sued for?? Total nonsense to traipse that out as an excuse not to say sorry for a very bady handled, sensitive situation.
I can only begin to image how you must have felt...

Our reception staff ask 'May I tell the dr what it is regarding?' on the phone or in person. If a patient answers 'it's personal' that is fine and is what will be fed back to the dr..

hacksmum those were the exact words they used. Now that I am sitting thinking about it and after what yourself and pacific have just said I think they may have just bullshitted me to sweep it under the carpet. At that time we had all sorts of other things going on so I just accepted what they said assuming they would have my best interests at heart. I guess they really, really didn't.

No, they shouldn't be given a break.
It's beyond me why they employ these people who have zero interpersonal skills, and have found they think they are sooo important, and ask why you want an appointment. How about, it's none of your effing business.
And another thing that annoys me. When you are standing there, they answer the phone and ignore you. Beyond rude imo.
So, no they shouldn't get a break!

"They do a difficult job"

Seriously??? What is dfficult about answering a telephone and inputting some details?

Its not "difficult"

In other countries the nursing staff have a rota for manning the phones. No medical advice or triage, just deal with human beings.

I've no doubt they do have to deal with a fair share of difficult and angry people. But they're (mostly) being difficult or angry because they're worried or frightened.

Indians are the worst - always making a fuss about nothing and wanting to see a doctor for the smallest thing (that gem courtesy of my GP receptionist - I heard her say that to her colleague)

Longdistance - if the receptionist ignored the phone, and dealt with you instead, then whoever was ringing would think they were being rudely ignored. Basically, she's damned either way, because she can't deal with two people at one time. If she answered the phone and asked the person to hold whilst she dealt with you, she could still be accused of rudeness, for putting someone on hold.

Catgirl - perhaps it's a difficult job because they are the frontline between the doctors/nurses and people who are ill/in pain/stressed/upset, and who do, on occasion, take this out on the receptionists because they can't do miracles, and magic up an appointment when there is none available.

I had an issue last time I was in the UK. I am non resident and don't pay tax. Therefore I deregistered at my GP surgery because I know lists are tight. I have global insurance who happily pay for consultations. I called and asked for a private appointment and the receptionist said "so why do you think you are so special luv, everyone else just comes for an emergency appointment. I explained and she refused to give me an appointment. I emailed the practice manager and she was really nice and said that the private appointments meant that I was not taking from an NHS patient and also helped their funds for new reception toys, magazines, books and some equipment they couldn't afford. She said of course I was welcome to take temporary status if I needed to but if I were a private patient I would save them money.

Catgirl, what is difficult is that they are regularly abused by the general public.
I worked as a dental receptionist and was regularly shouted at because the dentist was running late. I have been called every name under the sun. Yet I always kept a smile on my face and treated people well. If I didn't offer people appointments tomorrow I would get abuse - it was hardly my fault the dentist had an overflowing appointment book!

We had days where we would work from 8am-8pm with less that 20minutes break, often we didn't get chance to eat lunch. We'd have 2 phone lines ringing in and a line of patients coming in and going out due to there being 4 dentists at the practice.

In between having to deal with all that we had to keep the filing up to date, get peoples claims sent off to the dental board to make sure the dentist got paid, sending out recalls, dealing with dental technicians who were picking up dentures and so on, taking cash payments (with the threat of it coming out of our wages if it were wrong at the end of the day), dealing with the hospital when we had to refer people, Making sure forms were signed in the right places, knowing what benefits exempted people and which didn't, etc etc etc...

All this was done for a wage that was nothing short of a pittance - my wages went up considerably when the minimum wage came it.

So there is actually a lot more to it than just answering the phone.

I booked a routine appointment to see my GP 6 weeks in advance. A couple of days before it, I received a letter to say that 'due to unforeseen circumstances' the appointment would have to be cancelled and it asked me to make another. I rang to make another appointment and was offered one 3 weeks hence! That meant 9 weeks or two and a half months from my original call.

I had had something erupt in the 6 week period and was waiting for my original appointment desperately so refused asked nicely if I could decline the 3 weeks hence appointment and have one sooner. I was passed from person to person (higher and higher) and was told off in the end for 'shouting'. I said I was not shouting - just trying to get my point across. "Well, it's your tone then." I finished up with an appointment just 2 days after the original one. When I went, I was able to see on the computer that I had been doubler booked with someone else (who might have cancelled but I don't know).

Think about it. Who pays their salaries. WE DO!!

People on the tills in McDonalds, kebab shops, council tax counters etc get abused in the same way. Frontline jobs are all the same and should all be treated with the same intolerance of people at work being abused. The difference with receptionists at surgeries is that they are not regulated but are exposed to extremely sensitive and confidential information about the patients. If they go home and chat about you, there is little recourse apart from the fact that the practice will always try and placate you.

Oh, and I've been on this medical centre's books for 40 years and this is the first time I've had this sort of 'event'. Usually the receptionists are very good.

missy I am livid on your behalf, and really sorry for your loss.

if it had been me, my (ordinarily placid but quite protective) sister would have been down there to rip her a new arsehole, and rightly so

What Theo said

People who work in McDonalds get abuse. It's wrong and they shouldn't but it doesn't make it a "difficult" job

I take it you have worked as a receptionist then catgirl?

some of the stories on here make me but i really do feel that the perception that all Drs receptionists are dragons tend to cloud peoples views of them as someone to do battle with rather than someone just trying to do their jobs. My mother is like this, i have actually phoned her practice and apologised to the receptionist on her behalf because she has been so rude. Yet when she talks to the doctor is all "yes doctor, no doctor, anything you say doctor" when actually i don't think he does her an especially good service at all.

Actually, i would much rather be a drs receptionist than work at macdonalds, i have that down as a job i could never do (its up there with care assistant and nurse), my head would explode.