Abusive GP Receptionists Towards Patients

[SonsaraSunrise]

I have worked in customer service and there is no excuse for bad behaviour of any kind towards patients, even if they are stressed out by their jobs, it is part of the job and with the correct training they should be able to manage their work in the appropriate manner.

It is important for GP reception staff to be polite, caring and considerate towards their patients, as patients are unwell, already suffering, already emotionally distressed and feeling fragile and some patients are also mentally ill and there are some patients that are highly sensitive.

It does not cost anything to be kind and polite to another human being. It is what is expected by society, but not what we always encounter in life.

I have come across some very rude receptionist and she is a senior receptionist and her behaviour is absolutely appalling and atrocious and she abuses her power, by denying people appointments, cancelling people's appointments without their permission, hanging up on patients she does not like or has a grudge against, it's completely distasteful.

Also, any complaints made against receptionists fall on deaf ears and are covered up by her associates and employers including the practice manager (who is also incompetent in dealing with any complaints) and also the doctor who owns the surgery (who is arrogant and has a real attitude problem and has no idea how to run a practice), his partner is also a doctor is completely incompetent and does not know how to do his job and is endangering lives.

There is definitely something fishy going on at the surgery [POST EDITED BY MNHQ to remove link to online reviews of a specific surgery] this bad behaviour has been going on since 2009 to date and has never been address, yet they say they do employee appraisals on a regular basis which clearly must be doctored in some way by colleagues which is fraudulent behaviour in my opinion and should not be done.

As you can see from the complaints, the complaints are fairly consistent and I would like to know how this has been allowed to go on for so long and why has the Practice Manager been so incompetent and not addressed any of these issues and why has the senior receptionist employers allowed her to be working there for the last 11 years?

Obviously as a former patient this behaviour has been going on for a while and the comments posted since 2009 are the earliest posts available online, that does not include all of the offline complaints in addition to this as, also not all patients use online or know how to use the online system to make a complaint.

Also, with this particular surgery, any complaints made against receptionist staff get de-registered and mistreated further as a vendetta by the same receptionist, as I have come across some stories from fellow patients.

Anyway, the bottom line is, GP surgeries have a zero tolerance policy for patients to abide by and they are de-registered if they are abusive in any way or form. However, I feel the zero-tolerance policy should work both ways and GP receptionists should also respect patients in the same manner and they are in a profession where they need to show care, concern and consideration and not doing so can aggravate and worsen some patients health and well being, especially those who have been abuse, aggressively treated and bullied in the past and go to the GP to seek assistance, not to be re-traumatised for a second time.

So what I propose is a petition or a campaign, for receptionists to be polite and after 3 strikes of complaints from patients, they should be dismissed and forbidden to work in the health care industry again if they are unable to improve after being given a chance to do so, because this shows ingrained repetitive bad behaviour and should not be tolerated or accepted by anyone and any GP's who condone this type of behaviour and accept it should also be penalized in some way for allowing such behaviour to continue as they are responsible for the employees they hire within the practice and also responsible for their staff training.

Also, bad behaviour which is culturally displayed within a practice requires serious addressing and should not be allowed to continue as this not only affects a patient, but the community as a whole.

By petitioning and/or campaigning against bad GP receptionists, we can stamp out this type of detrimental behaviour towards patients and any of those good, polite GP receptionists that do exist (as I have met them in my new GP surgery), will not be affected as they are already doing their job as they are supposed to and meeting patient expectations and needs and doing their job as it is meant to be done.

Also as patients, I think we owe it to complain and have a right to complain when we have been wronged by GP receptionists and I think it would also be good etiquette to also praise and show our appreciation by thanking and reminding those good receptionists that they are doing a tremendous job so they can continue to feel they are on the right track, so that any of those odd bad patients they do come across do not make such a bad impact.

Also, I think it is important for GP receptionists to be educated on different people's personality types, because some people who may display what is considered 'bad' or 'difficult' behaviour and labelled as such are not necessary 'bad' or 'difficult' but can be apart of their ill health and illness and a display of their emotional distress, which is why they are seeking assistance from their GP in the first place and patients should not be struck off by GP receptionists or GP's themselves because of their incompetence and lack of understanding, care or consideration.

It would be interesting to hear your thoughts and opinions on this matter...

I'm imaging a V for Vendetta scenario here.

Campaign is ridiculous, OP is borderline libel IMO.

I have never had a problem with a receptionist. I am polite, answer questions clearly, and understand why they need to ration urgent appointments. I have never met anyone who reacts badly to this approach.

Let me get this right - three complaints against a receptionist and they're out?

You sound a little unhinged.

YABU.

It's ridiculous to think that one issue with one surgery means that all receptionists are evil.

It's a really hard and thankless job for very little pay or reward. Of course there are awful receptionists - just the same as there are awful people doing lots of jobs.

When I had an ongoing issue with reception staff at my GP surgery, after 20 years of trouble free service up to then, I made the Practice Manager aware and then quietly changed surgeries. No need for drama or public humiliation of the surgery.

Change doctor surgeries if it's that bad. Not all surgeries are the same.

I rang the surgery to get results of a pg test. The receptionist gaily informed me that it was negative which was "just as well at your age". She had no idea whether or not the news was welcome. I voted with my feet and changed surgery.

It's like with any place, you'll get really nice ones and you'll get bad ones.

I don't plan a petition though when the checkout person at asda has done my head in.

I've been a patient at several surgeries, and there has been at least one obnoxious battleaxe of a receptionist at each one. One was so rude I asked to see the practice manager - she was the practice manager, and she took great delight in smirking as she told me.

I've worked in public facing roles my whole working life, including as a social worker, and consequently have been on the receiving end of some shite, not to put too fine a point on it. I have NEVER retaliated or taken it out on the next person. It's highly unprofessional, not to mention inflammatory. I can't help thinking that the reason people are sometimes rude to receptionists is because receptionists are so rude to them. It works both ways.

As someone who has spent 13 years working in GP surgeries (6 years as a receptionist, 7 years as a deputy practice manager) I can count on one hand the number of complaints I have received about my conduct (zero).

I can also tell you I have had one patient removed from the surgery list and cautioned by the police for grabbing me by the throat over the reception desk (because I could only get a prescription signed by a GP within an hour, rather than instantly) and lose count of the number of patients that swear at me or threaten me with violence on a daily basis.

'As for receptionists asking medical questions, they are trying to help you and the doctor.

Have you got chest pain right now? Then you need 999, not an emergency appointment this afternoon.

Have you got a gynae issue? Then they can book a double appt with Dr X, rather than Dr Y because he's not done Obs and Gynae for years and does the eye problems in the surgery.'

This is where things get dangerous. Why would a receptionist know better than a patient what was appropriate to call 999 for? Or more dangerously (as I have experienced) the other way around.

It seems often to happen that those who are gatekeepers to the powerful (PAs to senior people, GP's receptionists etc) believe that they deserve the same professional respect as those for whom they work. They deserve to be treated decently, but in the same way as one would decently treat any secretary taking a message or arranging an appointment with. They do not deserve deference and should not be allowed to ask intrusive questions.

Asking for a basic complaint is hardly intrusive and sadly in this day of unfettered demand and entitlement, somehow those genuinely in need, need to be identified.
I have done a packed surgery, only to discover the clammy ill man with chest pain patiently waiting his turn.

Mac doodle,

But how can a receptionist triage? What about the one who told my wife that my then 5 week old baby who was breathing strangely and would not wake to feed was not an emergency but they could squeeze him in in about 6 hours as a special favour. Luckily we are not idiots and one hour later he was in Picu on cpap. What would have happened had we listened to her?

I know that many patients waste doctors time. However it takes a doctor (or, at a minimum, a nurse) to effectively triage over the phone.

larry at our practice if you phone to request an urgent appointment the receptionist asks what the problem is. She then gets a GP to phone you back and they will ask for more info and then decide if/when they need to see you. They usually ring back pretty sharpish. I agree that it's totally not on for a receptionist to have to triage as your case with your ds shows. If you'd not acted quickly, heaven knows what might have happened :( It's dangerous and not something a receptionist should have to be responsible for.

Larry I am guessing the receptionists get basic training, like 111 operators, in ranking calls. I'd think a baby breathing oddly would be cause for concern and that was probably an eg of poor training.

The receptionists at my surgery are fab. I rang them at 3pm when I thought I was MC. They said they only had appts for next week but when I said I thought that would be too late as I was pg and bleeding, they squeezed me in with my usual dr at 5.30pm.

Just by way of balance!

Umm sorry where did I say they were triaging, taking a complaint and a number for dr to call back is not triage? I am sorry you has a bad experience, but you need to take that up directly with the practice not assume all practices and receptionists are the same.

If you have complained and your concerns were not addressed properly, or if you were unfairly removed from a patient list, go to the Health Service Ombudsman

Your campaign idea is bonkers.

Larry as I said further up thread many receptionists are told to ask the questions by the management. Many I know disagree with it but have to do it or face a disciplinary. It's got nothing to do with them having some kind of God complex, if the doctors and practices manager put that type of pressure onto untrained staff then that is a failure at a higher level, nothing do do with the easy target on the reception desk.

I do agree with OP, GP Receptionists are out of control - particularly in the UK. I've had soo many problems with them, and it's not just one practice. I've had one receptionist tell me that to register for the practice i could only submit the forms on a friday (the day - by coincidence she wasn't working so she wouldn't have to enter it on the system). This resulted in me being unregistered with a doctor within the catchment area for over 2 years.

Another time in a different practice a receptionist opened a letter from the doctor to me, and read it out loud in front of everyone waiting to see a doctor. It wasn't addressed to her, it was addressed to me.

Another time, as an epileptic I have a medical exception certificate for prescriptions. But it had expired, I tried to explain this to receptionist that there was one pharmacy that could check on the system and verify it was for a lifelong decision, additionally the pharmacy was near where i worked. The receptionist agreed, but out of spite faxed the prescription to a different pharmacy presumably to make me pay for the prescription charges. Unfortunately he pharmacy they faxed it to closed down a week before so I was unable to get my prescription without seeing the doctor again and explaining what happened.

I am epileptic, but the grief i had over the years from receptionists caused me to give up medication for epilepsy, which was the hardest thing i ever had to do. Because it's not like an addition, your body physically depends on it and you have really nasty seizures coming off things like Epilim, and i've been hospitalised several times since, but it's better than having to argue with GP receptionists.

GP receptionists are just awful people and they have no idea of the problems they cause, and I think some of them actually get a kick out of it.

My dm (73) works as a receptionist for gp - she’s the been threatened, abused etc. She really does worry about patients etc, but the abuse of the NHS is quite frankly appalling

I am a GP receptionist and I will try my best for people. Unfortunately, for some, nothing will ever be good enough. I've been sworn at, shouted at, for things that I cannot control. I was even blamed for something I didnt even do.

If there was 3 strikes system, my manager would have no receptionists and there is 12 of us.

And I am not an awful person. I'm very sympathetic to people, but when they are rude to me for no reason, I can help but feel less helpful.

Not that I agree with the OPs post but some GP receptionists are shite. It’s just basic manners to look up from your desk when someone is standing there or to say to someone I’ll be with you in a minute/excuse me when they walk off mid convo with you. Luckily at my current practice they are great. Hopefully the crap ones are a dying breed.

Why have you reopened a 4 year old post??

FFS. ZOMBIE

I work in a surgery we aren't medically trained in anyway but do have to do loads of training on confidentiality, data protection , information governance, equality and diversity and loads more. Everycall we take is recorded and randomly listened to for training we have cctv at front desk. we have to follow guidelines set by the Gp partners and manager and are told off sometimes if the Gp says we have made a inapproopriate appointment some complain about this some dont. I do not want to know why you are coming to the doctors but have to ask as my boss tells me to same as every other job. I love helping people and have loads of positive comments and will try and help every patient the best I can but obviously I can't magic appointments when they aren't any but I can totally understand why people get frustrated about it. saying all of this while I think pretty much all of the people i work with do the same I have seen people having a bad attitude towards patients and being pretty unhelpful. I totally understand why people would get very frustrated with this and eould always advise to cmplain to practice manager in writing about this. the surgery has a procedure they have to follow so op I would ask to see a copy of the surgeries complaints policy. We also do have to deal with abusive patients and as well as shouting and swearing people I work with have been threatened this doesnt happen all the time but does happen and is obviously awful and very scary for person involved.

Three complaints or three justified complaints? I worked on a till as a teen. My favourite complaint about me was that I was hadn't been able to magically conjure the item said customer had come to buy which was out of stock