to wish the GP receptionists could manage to be civil

[emeraldgirl1]

I don't even ask for polite, or cheerful, though both would be nice.

Unfailingly they are snotty, difficult and generally behave as if dealing with patients is the most hideous task in the world.

I wouldn't moan except that I am never anything other than extremely polite (to the point of cravenness) and in addition the only thing I am ever asking them for is an appointment! I am not asking them for anything special! I accept humbly and politely that I can't see a doctor at any time vaguely convenient to me and am only ever politely and cheerfully asking them to locate the next available appointment. They ALL do it. I can only assume they must get some very difficult and angry patients and they feel the need to be on red alert? But I still don't think that has to translate to making an entirely reasonable patient feel like a latent criminal every time I call.

I am pregnant, so am ending up calling for more appointments (jabs etc) than usual. Dread it every time now.

Am sure there are many lovely receptionists out there but my surgery has hired all the stroppy and bitchy ones :(

We have lovely receptionists at our practise, again a large team who work together well. They also have an ill child, squeeze them in policy. I once got an appointment actually in the doctor's lunch hour; we had to be let in the locked front door and the usually well turned out senior GP wasn't wearing his tie - he apologised, saying "I have a terrible habit of spilling food down it, so I take it off for meal times". However, unlike the usual bouncy child once you turn up to the surgery... forty minutes later we were at the local hospital being admitted with the GP's notes faxed across. And that's why they squeeze them in, because the mother often has a reason for being worried.

The receiptionists at our practice are lovely nothing is too much for them. Last year DH needed to be referred to Moorefields Eye Hospital in London for another eye problem he has. So that she could send it to the right department she got DH to sit in the office with her at the computer so they could sort it out. Every Chritmas I take them in a box of biscuits to say thanks.

The doctors practice we have down the road is another matter I often get phone calls from them the first I received was about my pregnancy. I was 60 at the time and said I don't think I am pregnant well you are Mrs. Mowbray aren't you well yes I am but there is also another Mrs. Mowbray 10 houses down the road. She got really shirty with me when I said I didn't know their telephone number I said surely they have it on their notes.

I get to post my GP receptionist story! On the whole they're quite civil and decent, but rather "computer says no".

I had a molar pregnancy, was on fortnight bloods and had a bad result, so I had to have another test out of my "schedule". I called up to request an appointment. She said there was no space. I actually uttered the words, "I have to have a blood test on Monday to find out if I have cancer". NOPE. Takes about two minutes to get blood out of me and it could NOT be done. She attempted to get me to do some convoluted trip there then to the urgent care centre with a certificate (!) to get it done. Instead, I got my mum to sweet talk one of the midwives at her health centre to do it. The irony. Didn't have cancer though so happy ending!

apismalifica Why leave anonymous negative feedback? Surely it's better to make a proper complaint so the surgery can do something about it. Anonymous negative feedback doesn't help anyone!

My GP's receptionists are awful. Whenever you ring for an appointment receptionist says "can i ask what the problem is?" To wich i reply "can i ask what your medical qualificstions are?"

Apologies for spelling (sodding iphone)

They will have been told by the docs to ask that pugless. They don't want details, just an idea of what the problem is - it helps the doctors.

I once had a receptionist tell me when I rang up for test results that "there's nothing wrong with you". At this point I was some months into what was clearly a major bowel problem and weighed less than 7.5 stone. When I eventually got an appointment with the doctor, his interpretation of the result was that what they had specifically tested for wasn't present at that stage, may have been the cause of my problem but he couldn't be sure and consequently more investigations were needed. Quite a drive from "there's nothing wrong with you".

On the other hand, a week or two back when I called into my present GP to ask for an appointment, the receptionist was really lovely - because she got all excited when I gave her my DOB, which turned out to be the day she got married. I'm 49. I didn't ask why a woman in her seventies is working as a doctor's receptionist .

Bit harsh to complain that they ask what the problem is - as people have said, it helps them know who you should see. Our receptionists say 'Can I ask what the problem is, or is it personal?' which I think is a nice way to do it. I'm normally happy to say, but once I did say 'Do you mind if I don't say?' and she said of course, that's fine and she booked me in with the GP.

The thing that irritates me the most is when I ring (very very rarely) and ask for an appointment with the Dr and they say 'what's it for?'

WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCKING FUCK?

I've complained three times about this (at three different surgeries I should point out) and the fact that I'm a lawyer with detailed knowledge of the data protection act and patient confidentiality agreements this 'detailed knowledge' is a bit of an exaggeration always gets a very humble apology from them!

pugless I love that!

Pugless and notjust you're potentially doing yourself out of a more suitable, more timely appointment.

Most practices have GPSIs (GPs with a Special Interest), practice nurses, nurse practitioners and health care assistants who all have their own clinics and their own skills. If your problem is actually something one of them can help you with more efficiently and more quickly then you're doing yourself a disservice by responding like that to the receptionist.

Also if you tell them the nature of the problem it may allow them to make an appointment sooner than a routine one - for example where I work we have appts blocked for 2-3 days use for things that don't need to be seen the same day but can't wait 2 weeks for a routine appt. By asking the nature of the problem they can allocate appts more appropriately. Responding like pugless just makes you sound obnoxious - if you don't want to say then just tell them it's personal.

Oh and ALL surgery staff have patient confidentiality agreements written into their contracts.

Or GP surgery used to have dreadful receptionists - there was one in particular who was like Anne Robinson - in looks and personality. A conversation with her was like going into battle vs her passive-aggressive unhelpfulness and you always felt she was about to end it with 'you are the weakest link, goodbye!'

Anyway the surgery sent out a big patient questionnaire, asking about everything - after which there was something of a a turnover of receptionists. The new ones are much nicer!

Sidge I totally agree with you but two things irritate me.

1. They assume I'm not intelligent enough to know when I need to see these different practitioners. If I need a jab, for example, I'll say 'I need a nurse appointment' because I know I don't need to see a GP for a jab. Or if I'm not sure I'll say 'I need to book for a jab/well woman etc, who do I need to book with?'

1. The way that they ask 'what's the problem?' rather than 'is this a jab, check up, blood etc. and something our nurses or health care assistants could deal with to save you waiting for a GP appointment'. Then if you do need a specialist opinion from a GP for aleaky flange or whatever, you can say 'no I need a GP appointment'. But instead they just ask flat out what the issue is. Grrr!

they must sooo want to ask Pugless "and may I ask why you are such a rude arse"!

They do have a bit of a rep for it, and I have come across quite a few unhelpful ones. But can't complain about the local surgery, very good indeed.

I think part of the problem is that this used to be the job done by the Doctor's wife. Then it was something done by middle aged housewives, for 'pin-money'.

In the last 15 years, it's changed beyond all recognition. What is billed as, and appears to the patient's to be, a basic clerical job - type a bit, file a few things, make some tea, answer the phone, smile.... - is now a very pressured, actually quite skilled role.

It's a job which requires nerves of steel, endless good cheer, a strong stomach and the constitution and the immune system of an Ox.

Imagine starting at 8am - and bear in mind that every single patient is already at their worst, ill, frightened, in pain, irritated at having to ring - and fielding 180 enquiries in four hours - people with sick kids, dying husbands, major mental health issues. You'll be shouted at, patronised, threatened. You'l be translating incredibly poor English, or trying to use phrase books to make sure that the person ringing isn't describing the symptoms of a heart attack.

In between all this, you'll get no time to go for a wee, or to take a drink. You'll have the phone beeping constantly to tell you there are more calls, there'll be more patients at the desk shouting because they haven't been attended to yet.

If you fit the 'emergency' sick kid in, it'll turn out they have head lice and the newly-returned-from-Mat-Leave GP will scream at you for twenty minutes for making her late to pick her baby up. When the same family ring the following week with the same 'emergency' sick kid and you follow the Doctor's orders to refuse them the appointment, they'll threaten to follow you home and 'do your kid in, yeah!' - but you'll still be expected to work till 8pm for the 'worried-well' to come in and have their free travel vaccs for their £3000 holiday that they couldn't possibly take an hour off work for, (or, God Forbid, PAY for!) - and then walk across town and catch the bus home alone.

In between the genuinely sick and frightened patients, you'll deal with the woman whose forgotten her 90 year old father's repeat px for the fourth month in a row. For the 4th Month in a row, you'll offer to set up a pharmacy collect and deliver service and this time she'll literally spit at you and make a complaint saying you were accusing her of being negligent and calling her stupid because.

When the Doctor refuses to sign the script in Month 5, it's you that will face the 30 minutes of screamed insults in full view of the whole practice.

You'll have to smile at the man you know is abusing his 3 year old son - and make yet another appointment for that son, and keep your mouth shut and say nothing to anyone even though your heart breaks when the kid comes n because the GP is working with SS to build a case but if anyone spooks the bloke, he'll move areas (again) and they'll lose him before they have enough evidence.

You'll sit, in just a blouse and trousers, being coughed at and sneezed at, in the middle of a flu outbreak, pregnant and unvaccinated, with no protection and with growing rumours that the virus is dangerous to pregnant women, because the other receptionist went down with it yesterday and, even though you'd agreed not to work the desk, theirs no-one else and still the phone rings and patients have to be dealt with and cancer referrals made and if you refuse it's the patients that'll suffer.

The training for this: None
The specialist qualifications and support: None

You'll be paid minimum wage.

Should Dr's receptionist's be polite - yes.

Are they human, working in a hideous environment - also yes.

There's a reason I changed jobs!

notjust I doubt it's anything to do with assumptions of your intelligence. It's probably just that taking up to 100 calls an hour means they often use simple short phrases to ascertain need!

Also not all staff will have the same skills - 1 of our GPs does smears, the other 4 don't. 1 GP is a GPSI for dermatology, 1 for diabetes. 4 of our nurses do smears, the other 1 doesn't. 3 of us do Contraception and Sexual Health, the 2 others don't. I am one of two out of 5 PNs who can do doppler assessments. Etc etc. Surely it would be worse to be booked in with a HCP who can't help you at all with your problem, or who may have limited knowledge or experience in that area?

I really truly don't understand why people get huffy when asked what they want the appt for. The receptionist doesn't want all the gory details, just to book you the most suitable appt!

Some people also get huffy when I ask about their toothache when they are making an emergency dental appointment, even when I explain that the dentist asks me to ask so they can look at their chart and prepare the surgery in advance, I think they think I am just nosey and fascinated by the details of their toothache.

Some of the stuff in this thread worries me, because it suggests that there is a bit of an "us and them" spirit within the job. I suspect one particularly stinky receptionist classed me as "worried well" and probably also too young to be ill when I came in having an asthma attack. I was shaking and wheezing and could barely breathe, but I screwed up every atom of effort to speak calmly and clearly and not be demanding even though I was panicking. She wouldn't give me an emergency appointment even though I'd turned up in one of the correct slots for them, and it was like getting blood out of a stone to get her to tell me where the nearest A&E was.

I don't think she believed I was going to go. I still boil with hatred when I think about her. I was scared and my breathing was getting worse, and I was alone in dealing with it (couldn't drive, no partner, too poor for a taxi) and she wouldn't be the slightest bit helpful to me. By an incredible stroke of luck my best mate had an inset day or I wouldn't have got to A&E at all (that is, I probably would have done eventually, but rather later and in an ambulance.)

The receptionists at my surgery are luffly.

Actually the ones at my current one are as well. And they mostly have to deal with STUDENTS! [hgrin]

ginny I appreciate that a GP receptionist can be a demanding job but a lot of people have demanding jobs so it's not really an excuse.

Moreover, I can appreciate the receptionists being a bit grumpy to those patients that cause them the sorts of problems you've described. However, I ring the GPs about twice a year; I speak perfect English, I don't forget medication pick ups regularly, I'm not abusing my children, I never ring for an unnecessary 'worried well appointment' and I'm always friendly yet the receptionists always speak to me like a piece of shit.

Moreover, I take issue with your sniffy comments about people not taking time off work to have their jabs for their £3,000 holiday. Not all of us can take time of work for appointments even if we were to offer to give up pay. If the GP surgery is open until late at night and receptionists are paid to stay until late at night, I don't see what the issue is with people using the service late at night