Receptionists at the Doctor's surgery

[CallingFromLondon]

AIBU to be fed up of all these jokes and complaints about them? "They don't have a medical degree, they just think they do". Or "Why do they ask all those questions?"

They ask so they can redirect you to the right place or person. If you ring up and want to see a GP about a rash, you're not going to want to see a GP specialising in mental health, are you?!

Sorry, rant over. I know I'm not being unreasonable.

Our gp surgery receptionists are generally great. There was a horriy rude one, who would make comments about you (sotto voce but never quite sotto enough) about the patient she'd just checked in; she was vile. I told her off once and then got little cooperation over appts etc for a few years. Coincidence? Probably (hope so).

These days they're all helpful and nice enough.

A LOT depends on attitude and a "can do vs can't do" approach that is taken by the receptionist. I am literally always polite when I ring and there's one who is just lovely and you can feel her trying to help you, and then there's one who is grumpy and short in manner on the phone and you can feel her trying to block you.

I think this is a tough one as my experience is so mixed and definitely down to the individual receptionists.

My Dr's it's well known that there are 2 nice ones and 2 who have a bee in their bonnets, had numerous complaints from patients about and generally just seem to argue! They just seem to get sent on awareness courses! Even the health visitor will check which ones are in that day!
One of which, in the early stages of my pregnancy, argued with me that I didn't need to speak to a Dr when I had pain on one side told me to go through the online consultation when I asked if it was possible to speak to the on call Dr or midwife. When I explained I had and it told me to go to A&E due to the questions which I thought could be a waste of A&E time hence wanting to check with Dr, response was well you don't need a Dr then.... Eventually she agreed turned out I had an infection thankfully.

The other one argued with me about flu vaccination and whooping cough despite my midwife saying about booking it. 3 phone calls later I managed to book it after wasting my midwifes time because the receptionist refused... She had no right to do so but had decided that I didn't need it and as I hadn't received a flu letter yet I couldn't have that either.......

Why can't you just describe things in technically correct but less direct ways?

For example, leaky fanjo == "I'm having a gynaecological issue." Depression back == "I'm having a mental health issue relating to mental health medication I have been prescribed."

The receptionists at our GPs' surgery are lovely, can't do enough for you. And though they do ask what the problem is when you ring up for an appointment, they always say "If you don't mind saying?" They're great.

If I listened to ours when she refused me an appointment I'd not be typing this...

We are told by the GP’s to get as much detail as possible. If we don’t we get hauled in front of the practice manager. We do have a side room available, all you need to do is ask to speak to us in there - it isn’t a problem. And believe me, we have heard it all before, many patients are more than happy to share VERY personal details!!

Marymarkle I understand your point but I would imagine in most cases if there were other problems the patient can say this "I've got a cough but also ....".

The cough was only an example.

Look the NHS is far from perfect, but part of the problem is that people abuse the service, I've known so many people who treat going to the doctors like it's a hobby, demanding antibiotics and then not even talking them properly.

I think surgeries at just trying to weed out the ones who genuinely need an appointment.

Jess And if someone is ringing up and does not know what is wrong with them? How do you decide if they should have an emergency appointment?

Then a certain onus needs to be on the patient. We would say 'the next routine appointment is on XXXXX, is that ok or do you think you need to be seen sooner?'

marymarkle I’m not sure but at my surgery I think they would suggest adding you to the doctors telephone list for that day so you could speak with them directly, unless you insisted on coming in person

I came on to stick up for receptionists too - the ones at my new surgery are great - I offer the info before they ask, usually because I prefer to see the same doctor for me and my son but understand this could mean a wait / compromise.

They have just bend over backwards to task my doctor to order blood tests so my son (who is autistic) has less visits / less of a wait. They also have told when to call for an appt with our preferred doctor....

I have mental health problems too and they are always very very sensitive towards me when I say.

However, there was one woman at my last surgery that was really scary and unpredictable

Yabu. If you have only ever encountered helpful gatekeepers you can’t accurately judge the competency of staff that other people have had the misfortune to deal with. I personally don’t wish to be triaged over the phone by a Receptionist.

It has always baffled me though why people are so against talking to a GP Receptionist but fine with giving the same information to a 111 call handler 😄 it’s pretty much the same thing but people don’t see it like that.

I realise it can be helpful for receptionists to pass on info to a GP, but I used to ring up my local surgery, they would ask my name, then repeat it so everyone in the (normally packed) waiting room will have heard it, so if anyone there knows me they can listen to the questions I'm being asked and associate them with me. I've had a few conversations with neighbours or on the school playground along the lines of "guess what I heard while I was waiting in the doctor's?" This is why it's different from talking to 111, because they are working in a public place where sometimes the public know one another.

I agree with you OP. At my old surgery they did not ask any questions but they had 12 GPs so I guess it didn't matter. At my new surgery, they always ask and I assume it's because they are trying to determine if I need a GP or can see a nurse. I've never felt put out by it and I don't understand why people get so worked up. If everyone gets to see a GP at a small practice then a lot of time wasters or simple problems will eat up the slots for those who really must speak to a doctor. It's not rocket science!

We aren’t there to triage who does and doesn’t get an emergency appointment, we pass it all the the Doctors (with a brief reason) for them to decide. I would say at least 95% of them get at least a call back from the GP that day. It’s Hard to get through so many patients, you’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t.

Close to what Walnutwhipster said, DH had to put up a fight to get a same day appointment for that afternoon, by the time of the appointment he was incapacitated, couldn't even make a phone call, I only found out when school rang me cause Dh hadn't collected DS. DH ended up in an ambulance and spent a couple of nights in hospital. It was Lyme's disease, if it's not caught early it can stay with you for life. Much humble pie from the surgery.

I had bleeding in early pregnancy, rang the surgery and the receptionist was messaging a GP. I rang back and the GP had left so the receptionist told me "It can't have been that important". I was miscarrying.

The current practice sent my smear reminder to the wrong address rang me up in snotty tones to accuse me of moving without telling them. Much humble pie again when they found I gave them my current address, have never given them the address they sent my reminder too. They also accused me in snotty tones of not having provided proof of address when I registered. They found it had been entered on one system but not the other. Always snotty assumptions that you're in the wrong.

Ask I agree with pp about how to describe the problem. A few weeks ago I called because my anxiety was out of control and when she asked, I simply said "mental health" and she got me a same day GP appt. I was actually glad she asked because my GP had opened my records and read through everything before I walked in so she was able to speak to me about it immediately and was very helpful.

My GP surgery has set their phones up so that before you get out through to a receptionist, you have to listen to a message from the senior GP that says something along the lines of

“This is GP in charge. I’ve told the receptionists to ask patients why they want an appointment to help you get an appointment with the right person. You don’t have to tell them but it helps us if you do.”

I’m guessing they’ve had some issues with patients thinking the receptionists have no business knowing what’s up with them.

I'm a GP receptionist and I get this all the time. No, I'm not trained to triage but I am trained to know if it's the GP/Nurse/Pharmacist you need to see.
I'm not asking because I care or am being nosey, I'm asking because I have been told to and so that I can book you in with the right person!

I’ve never had a problem with our Dr’s receptionists. I think they do an amazing job and I’ve seen some of the crap that they put up with whilst I’m waiting for appointments.
They’re always polite to me and I’ve never found their questions intrusive. That said, ever since giving birth, I found that I have no problem with announcing any ailments to anyone! Once you’ve had your legs up in stirrups and a 6ft male consultant with a fair bit of his forearm up your vagina, you tend to rethink what you get embarrassed about 😳

Our surgery ask questions so they can ensure staff get to the patients who need them, in time for their care to be suitable. Call to get a hearing test for my child, and it's a three week wait. Call to get shots needed before a set date, and they fit you in suitably. Call because you have something that could be life threatening, and they unfurl a secret emergency appointment with your favourite woman GP inside an hour. Call because the blood clinic at the local hospital have a five hour wait and you have a kid to collect from school, and they manage to get a nurse to do a blood draw for you by dint of her skipping a break (that's a guess, but they fitted me in at a time when all normal appointments were gone).

They make sure the people who need to get seen get seen. And they do it bloody well. I appreciate not all practices have such fab admin staff, but I love ours. They're also precise and helpful with letters and referrals, and always go the extra mile. Great doctors, too. I wish I could win the lottery and send them all to Necker Island for a week. As it is, they get a tin of M&S biscuits and a thank-you card instead.

We moved practices from one that was frankly not great, and I'm so glad we did. A good admin team make a medical practice function efficiently, and that means the patients get timely care. Answering a few questions seems a small price to pay.

@theyellowjumper

They’re not supposed to be repeating information back. I ask for the D.O.B and when they come up I’ll say something like ‘is that John’ I wouldn’t say the full name in a busy surgery or repeat the whole number back.

We are told that patients can’t be identifiable from a conversation on the phone so if people are doing this then they shouldn’t be.

I had a fab experience today with the receptionists at our surgery. Although they couldn't get me an appointment at their surgery they happily called all the others and got me an appointment today. All without being asked. Great service, I'd say.

They are a nightmare at my doctors, they really do think they are medically qualified! As for patient confidentiality, don’t even get me started. When I was pregnant with my first child and had gone for my 1st appointment I had to ask the receptionist for a urine pot and the notes they give you. I leant into the window that they sit behind and asked in a quiet voice as I often bump into people who I know in there, the receptionist then bellows to the other receptionist out the back “can you get me a pregnancy pack June”. She may as well have made an announcement to the entire surgery!!! I don’t think they realise that not everyone wants to share why they are there with the entire waiting room.

Ocies You see I think that is fine with some patients. I think very elderly patients though often don't want to bother the Dr, and this is where things can really fall down.

And no not all elderly patients with a cough will also list all the other serious things they have wrong with them.

I was talking to a paramedic who was saying you can never tell from the call description about what you are actually going to. So you get a call that a child cant breathe. You rush there, the child is sitting up, chatting and laughing away and the mother says, oh she was a bit breathless after running round and has a cold. And you get a call saying a man has slight pain in his chest. You get there thinking it might be indigestion only to find out the man was discharged from hospital 2 days ago after having a triple by pass and that the pain feels the same as pain he had before when he had to stay in hospital for weeks.

Most of what GPs deal with is pretty routine. So most of the time it is fine. But when something may be genuinely life threatening, I don't think receptionists are able to tell if the patient needs to be seen immediately or if it is okay to recommend they go to the pharmacy.