To think I should not have to tell the dr's receptionist what's wrong.

[Mittensonkittens]

So I rang for an emergency appointment yesterday as suspected ovarian cyst had ruptured. Most appointments are now emergency ones, you have to wait at least two weeks for scheduled ones, often three weeks.

I rang yesterday morning:

Me: can I book at appointment today please?
Receptionist: is it an emergency?
Me: well Id like to be seen in the next couple of days.
Her: but is it an emergency?
Me: well if I say no when can I actually get in with a dr?
Her: 1st November
Me: I'd like to be seen before then please.
Her (snootily); ok well what's the problem?
Me: I have a large ovarian cyst which is now causing a lot of pain.
Her: so how much pain would you say you're in?
Me: not as much as in the night but it still hurts enough that I'm taking painkiller every few hours.
Her: so it's getting better? So is it really an emergency?
Me: I don't know! Ideally id like to be seen in the next couple of days. I'm worried about it and I don't know if it can cause further problems.
Her: nor me, I don't know anything about ovarian cysts.

Argh! So why am I having this conversation then? It annoys me that I have to discuss this sort of thing with the receptionist, I suppose they are told to ask by the dr but seriously it annoys me. One of the receptionists is a parent at ds's school. I know she can access my information anyway but I just don't want to be having these sorts of conversations.

Aibu?!

I see that it's a stress. And I hope you're ok.
But why didn't you just say "yes, it's an emergency"?
When appointments are at a premium there needs to be some kind of filtering/ gatekeepers. Sharing information with the receptionist (the one who is going to book your appointment - or not) is useful for you. Otherwise a serious condition (like yours) wouldn't get seen for weeks because your neighbour might be calling to get an appointment to have his verruca looked at. Ok he needs dealing with, but probably not as an emergency. There can be no triage if you don't tell them what's wrong. So next time I would say "yes" in answer to the question: "is it an emergency?" when it is an emergency (in the sense of a gp emergency, as if it we a critical emergency obviously you'd be in a&e)