that I am annoyed at GP receptionist.....

[3easterbunniesandnomore]

Well...I am fuming at with that stupid cow, I must say!
Story is...ms had his school booster jabs appointment....I timed it, so that we wouldn't have a long waiting time...but of course that doesn't matter does it...when they, yet again not on the timed schedule.
They have no toys neither...nothing for Kids...and the few bits we took didn't entertain my ms4 and ys 2 1/2 very long....!
Anyway, at first they were playing quietly, but after 30 minutes they got a bit unsettled and got louder and started running about, which I tried to stop of course....anyway, that stupid cow of receptionist glares at me and tells me to make my Kids sit down quietly (and not in a polite manner neither)...so, I got my Kids told them gruffily to sit down and be quiet and mumbled something along the lines...what do they expect when tehy let ys wait for yonks like this...grr...!
Anyway, I then go huffily up to the recpetionist as we still hadn't been called in, asking when my son was gonna be called in, afterall, his appointment was 20 minutes ago, to which she replied, oh he is going to be called in any minute now...took another 5 minutes from then and in that time my ys, who was being told off, again, for getting up and making a noise then started to scream his head off...I get mega glares from teh receptionists , which really was a bit to much, so, I jsut told them, well, you didn't want them running about and playing, what ya expect...I mean...honestly...talk about child UN friendly....grrr....!Surely their expectations are pretty unrealistic?
IT wasn't even if there was many people waiting ...as all the other Kids had been called in already, and left and there was maybe another 3 people all in all waiting with us!
I am fed up with that surgery anywya, I msut admit...had a GP appointment the other day, at 20 past and didn't get in with him till the full hour...I mean, talk about taking the piss....

our current receptionists are wonderful, they know me by now, a new one started the other wewek and when i collected dh repeat perscriptions, she 'blimey thats a lot' (7 sheets) i just chuckled and said 'get used to it'.

our old old ones in stevenage, used to threaten to hit kids with a stick if they didnt behave. she also turbned out away when dd1 was wheezing, she ended up in a+e having a full blown asthma attack.

It only takes one lot of bad news to be given to patients to put the timing of appointments up the creek. It is impossible to see people in 5 minute appointments all the time. However, if they didn't do 5 minute appointments then you would have to wait days for an appointment or not be able to get one at all.

Afraid our drs receptionists are stinky too. Turned up once for an appointment, went to the desk to register my arrival to be told I didn't have an appointment. Told her I was quite sure I had. She said definately no, would make me one for the following week (first available appointment!!). Went home, found appointment card, (you can guess where I'm going with this can't you??) called her back to tell her I was right about the appointment to be told, "oh yes, I see your name on the list now, ah well never mind, see you next week's appointment". Not even an apology!

Yes Mamalocco, it's that lack of apology that gets right up my nose too. Like when I was told by smug receptionist that the dr was going to see me at the OTHER surgery (across town)when I had just walked with dd2 about half a mile massively 37 weeks pg to the appt that I had booked for the surgery I turned up at. I was exhausted and had no car. It was their mistake, but would they admit to it?

I wrote a letter of complaint to the practice manager.

That sounds like my surgery. I had an appointment on Monday at 9am,i got there in plenty of time so i wasn't late and i was called in at 9.35am. The surgery opens at 8.30am so i don't understand why they were so behind? I wish my baby had screamed just to annoy the snooty receptionists!

my old gp receptionist deserves shooting, i rang up requesting an emergency appt for my 2yr dd as she had a rash that didnt disappear to first be told there was not appts not even emergency ones for 2days, no a and e where we were living so i took her to another gp where the receptionists would not let her be seen by one of there drs as it might upset my gp told me to ring again so i did to be told i could come back at 1pm and the gp might be able to see me (it was only 1030 at this point and the rash had spread

receptionists at 2nd surgery were helpful at least telling me to go to my dr and politely demand an immediate appt so i did

got there to be told by snotty bitch that dr was very busy and she had already told me to come back in afternoon surgery. people in queue behind me were telling woman my dd needed a dr urgently

i was a bit emotional so i told her i was going to sit in her waiting room with my child and possibly infect everyone in there with meningitus unless i was seen

sat there for about 20mins dd screaming the place down snotty bitch took the dr a cup of tea and biscuits at one point but still every one got called in before us for there sore toes or etc

eventually dr came out of room for something and saw us sat there, had seen him day before about something and he thought i was back about that he didnt even know that we were waiting!!!

he was really good saw us straight away gave dd penicillin and arranged an ambulance and made sure she had been admitted before we had got there. dd spent 3 weeks in hospital and over a week of that was in intensive care,

if anything had happened to her i would personally gone and chopped her into small pieces with a blunt knife so she suffered! dd recovered eventually but i did threaten legal action and the woman no longer works there hmmm i wonder why!!!

Fucking hell, nulnul!

If I'd have been one of those people who were let in first, I'd have gone straight in to the doctor and told him I wasn't leaving till the little girl got seen and that the receptionist was interfering with urgent patient care, so maybe the GMC should know about that kind of practice.

nulnulcat, was it meningitis?

yes it was bacterial meningitus fortunately dd doesnt have any serious lasting side effects but i will always wonder would she have the problems she does if she had been treated earlier and i did take the matter further and put in an offical complaint to the local primary trust.

the drs surgery has since closed down she was sacked after we threatened to sue the place

Not read the whole thread, but if you get poorly treated by the receptionist (or anyone at the surgery, really) you should write and complain. Let them know. We wouldn't expect to be treated like this anywhere else, so why put up with it in a doctor's surgery?

Surely the receptionist should have advised you to dial 999. My doctors surgery is fantastic about emergency appointments. If you are worried they normally see you that day.

I can't believe all those people went in to be seen knowing your little girl was out there extremely ill and said FA!

WTF?!

I'd have been raging when I got in to see the doctor!

Wow, nothing like as bad as your story nulnulcat, but when dh and I started back at Uni one year (before we were married), dh had developed a chest infection and needed antibiotics (he was prone to them and knew exactly what he needed to do). The receptionist tried to tell him he had to go back the following week because they were too busy registering all the new students to fit him in. He refused and eventually got an appointment. He told the doctor what had happened and she was furious and gave the receptionists what for

nnc that vis just terrible and there is no excuse for that....glad your lil one is ok though, with no lasting effects!
thank god my incidence wasn't that serious....just annoying, iykwim!

God Nulnul - fortunately I got the opposite care in similar (but not quite as severe) circumstances this morning. Just goes to show you the range of care that we receive from all aspects of the NHS and their support services....

Sorry to disappear. I did complain directly to the Doc, and to her credit she looked horrified! Doesn't compare to Nul's story though. On the funnier side, a couple of weeks afterwards I hobbled to doctor for emergency appt for dd1. Emergency means you turn up at 8.30 and wait. After I had been there for 1 1/2 hours dd1 had started to freak out. No toys, we'd exhausted what I had bought with us so I put her on the floor to crawl about. Not ideal I know, but at least she stopped yelling and I stopped getting the stare.

So I am there with foot up, massively pregnant, sweating away as docs is in some form of portacabin and it was nearly 30 degrees out.......and the receptionist yells out of the hatch at how "unhygienic it was to let the little one crawl about and wasnt she ill enough already?"

I swear, it was a good job I was huge and lame, or I would have leapt over the counter and throttled her!!!

May I politely suggest (excluding serious cases of malpractice such as that in nulnuls case), that those of you who think receptionists are so awful, sit on the other side of the desk for a day, and see just how rude, and shitty people can be to you, simply for being the person behind the desk?

The arrogance of some people is astonishing, and the kind of calls that come in that border on the ridiculous invokes a lot of scepticism. Understandably.

If a doctor is running late it is ALWAYS the receptionist that gets it in the neck - rarely - if ever - the GP/Consultant. Once the patient gets in to the doctors they are sweetness and light because they are where they want to be, and perhaps dont want to piss the person off that could help them.

People spend far too much time complaining to receptionists and never utter a word to the GP/Consultant and therefore, the doctor is often oblivious the the nightmare he/she is creating.

A few weeks ago, I had the same patient ring up 24 times in two hours. Why? Because she is an alcoholic and a lonely one at that. She has nothing better to do than ring people up and shout at them and harrass them, and then complain when she considers them rude. Then begs you not to pass on the complaint because she doesnt want to be told off. No, she cant help it, but, getting paid barely above the minimum wage and being treated like shit all day - its difficult to keep a smile on your face sometimes. Maybe bear that in mind?

I work in a vets, started out as a receptionist so I ca understand where you are coming from VVVQ. I used to have all kinds of nutters and horrid peope trying ton confront me and generally being rude. But If the vet was running late I always explained this to the waiting room and appologised! I made sure emergencies were a priority and I never insulted anyone1 (baby crawling on the floor etc...) So while it is understandable that receptionists do get all the crap, they dont have to be rude to customers when it isnt called for!

yes, i used to be a vet receptionist too, still do it now and again for a rest! yeah right, am i mad - probably, agree with you VVVQ if the VET is running late then it was always MY fault, if people decided they thought their bill extortionate MY fault, if they couldnt get an appointment (cos usually vet breathing down my neck cos late for golf and wants to go home!) you guessed it - MY fault. They get into the vets, their nose comes out brown. Also, people assume that you have to be stupid to work behind the desk - i have often explained animals conditions and what to do etc to clients, only to have them ask the vet the same q as soon as they appear. This annoys me no end, my boss knows this though and will say, i think Louise has explained this to you, oh yes, she is qualified, in fact she is more qualified than i am - she has a phd!!! (something i take great pride in rubbing his nose in, all in good fun mind) that left a rather rude, condescending client a bit red in the face and at a loss to what to say next. I just smiled sweetly and took the money. I guess the rudeness is part of the job, sometimes i think im not paid enough to put up with it, but in general i realise that people are stressed, worried and upset and do my best to be polite and helpful and it is greatly appreciated by clients, an excesss stone of my weight is here cos of choccies donated by clients. Of course, if someone is being a genuine arsehole, they feel the cutting edge of my tongue!

Ours have been pretty bad in the past.

I understand that dealing with rude people must be exasperating, but most of us aren't - well I'm not - and yet I've been interrogated publicly and loudly in front of the whole waiting room about why I need a sample pot (not sure what she thought I needed it for)

Left at 8mths pregnant for ages in a waiting room before they finally told me they'd made a mistake and the suregery was closed and the doctor had gone out.

Experienced no end of skeptical deep sighing and downright unsympathetic unco-operativeness when trying to book an appointment.

Being offered no help whatsoever (despite a dearth or receptionists behind the counter) when I had to bring my new born twins in to see the doctor and was waved on up two flights of stairs and no end of doorways. It was obvious I was struggling and the doctor helped me out again later.

Some are probably nice, but I find the ones I've dealt with on the whole defensive and rather aggressive.

At least we have a Triage system now and a nurse decides whether you should see a doctor. This works well, before that, going through the receptionist was terrible.

i understand that when you see the public you do get the rough end of the stick amongst other jobs as an overseas rep i have had abuse yelled at me coz it rained!! the food was foreign (we were in magaluf ffs!!) as cabin crew i got abuse left right and centre I think some people think they have the right to treat you like s**t if you are in that sort of job and that is wrong BUT some people do go on a bit of a power trip ( have seen plenty of snotty holiday reps and as for hosties well snotty is our middle name!) but some drs receptionists take the biscuit! i want an appt for ffs not to tell you what is wrong with me! and if my dd is seriously ill im not a neurotic mother i just want some help!

by the way the case of the crap receptionist and drs surgery in my case is going down the legal route, i saw a locum in my case as my gp was suspended no argument with locum he was fantastic but gp was pretty crap failed to spot pre eclampsia all my complaints were part of being pregnant! and dd had serious health issues as a baby none of which were picked up as i was a neurotic mother!

needless to say i have no faith in the nhs and am now private

nulnul....most private GPs and Consultants do work for the NHS as well, you do realise that, dont you?

The only ones that tend not to are Plastic Surgeons.

I only say that, because it could be costing you money for some things where you neednt bother.

VendiVidiVickiQV, you obviously are not private are you, there is alot of difference between a private consultation and a NHS one, even if that is by the same dr.

Money talks and you get what you pay for.

I work in a private hospital - I know exactly how it works

At my old doctors the receptionists were horrible bitches.
Changed GP's and 'oh my god', its like talking to normal happy friendly people!
Once, one of them even came out and gave my DS a biscuit while we were waiting
Is there any other surgeries near you that you could possible change to?