To let you know that you're not doing yourself any favours by refusing to tell the GP receptionist your symptoms?

[privateeyefan]

I'm a GP. My surgery operate a triage system - if you ring up or walk in asking for an appointment, then you get put on the triage list, and get a phone call from the doctor that same day, who can then make an appointment for you if you need one.

When patients ring up or walk in, the receptionists who speak to them will ask for a brief outline of the problem. This means that, as we usually have at least 3 doctors doing triage at any one time, we can prioritise the calls - if if see things that I know will need an appointment, then I will call those patients first so that I can get them into the surgery on the same day, often within the hour.

If you refuse to tell the receptionist what the problem is, and there is therefore nothing next to your name on the triage list, then I leave you until last. I'm not going to prioritise you over people I know will have to be seen, when I have no idea whether or not you will need an appointment. Therefore, if you don't tell the receptionist, your chances of a same-day appointment decrease substantially, and you will also have last choice of appointments over the next few days - the most convenient times after working hours will be long gone.

In addition, I, like most of my colleagues, have a special interest in a certain field. As I glance through the triage list, I generally pick out patients whose problem relates to my particular field of expertise, as do my colleagues. By refusing to give even the briefest of outlines, you rule out the chance that the GP with the most relevant experience will contact you directly.

Receptionists don't have medical training. Of course not. But that doesn't make them incapable of typing a one line summary of your problem dictated by you, in order to help the doctors do their job.

And please also remember - they speak to hundreds of patients daily. Your problem will occupy their mind for a few seconds, and then they will move on to the next patient and you will be swiftly forgotten.

Notice on the wall or on a stand where the queue for the receptionist begins:

In order to give you the best possible service, the receptionist will ask you a couple of brief questions about your health. The receptionist will pass those details straight to the triage doctor who will decide what kind of appointment will best suit you. Thanks for treating our staff with politeness and considertion. Dr X

Why speak to the receptionist at all? If they are just a voicemail service, why not just have a voicemail service? With the added bonus that people can call and leave a message at 5am if that's when they first think they need to see the doctor.

If you aren't going to let the receptionist book appointments, just have an answering machine, and if it's something routine left on the message like "I need to book to see someone over the next week" the receptionist can call them back to book in, if it's an urgent one, the dr.

It's the extra layer that seems pointless.

Eff off. I should not have to shout personal things in a room full of strangers. Our receptionists have thick glass on the window and the only way to be heard is to speak really loudly.

"Our reception is separate from the waiting areas, so no, people there cannot hear what is going on in reception."

I see, but in MY surgery, it's in the same place. Even if the waiting area was separate, everyone else in the reception queue would hear me, wouldn't they?

I was 16 and in the queue at the surgery (couldnt get through on the phone). Also in the queue was the nosiest, most gossipy girl from my school. I was having bad reactions to my contraceptive pill and I didn't want to discuss that with that girl in earshot so I wrote it down on a notepad and handed that to the receptionist. She read it out, very loudly and then told me "not to be so ridiculous and just speak".
It was all around school the next day, including the increase in discharge I was having etc.

I have obviously moved away from that town and the surgery I'm at now doesn't accept phone calls or walk ins. You need to fill out a form online with your symptoms and you get a call back (usually within an hour on a weekday). If they didn't have that system, I wouldn't be telling the receptionist anything.

Privateeyefan
It's true, there aren't enough GPs..But people are selfish. You are not going to be able to get people to effectively deprioritise their own health to benefit the overall needs of all patients at the surgery. Joe public is not medically trained to understand why someone else's need for an appointment comes first. With Triage systems, as you acknowledge, there are not enough appointments. So somebody loses. People are trying desperately to ensure they don't get deprioritised, so don't want to share that info you want. Most people do not truly believe they will be deprioritised MORE by giving no information, even you say this.

Tastetherainbow - yep, non emergency appts are a complete joke at many surgeries. 99% of them are taken by elderly people with chronic conditions, booked so far ahead that it's nigh on impossible for anyone else to get one for a serious but non urgent reason.

I have read half of the thread so far.

I'm a GP receptionist.

I'm not a stereotypical one.

Patients sometimes ask for medical advice. I refuse to give any. That's for the doctor to do.

If I'm adding someone to the triage list, I say "would you mind giving me an idea of the concern? If it's personal, you don't have to". Though, quite often I get a life story! (Although our doctors call patients in the order they called, so it doesn't make a difference).

I am also a medical professional in a different environment. I was getting burnt out so decided to take a massive pay cut and do reception / admin. But still, I won't give advice as it's not within my remit.

My surgery’s receptionists are both lovely and professional and the triage system works well. I’ve used it a few times recently - infected episiotomy scar, mastitis and my baby DD had a chest infection. I outlined the problem to the receptionist and was called and seen the same day by a doc for all of these.

@privateeyefan - bet you're glad you started this thread ?!.
I'm not popular saying the NHS is free. Admit poorly worded and yes I pay taxes and NI. I merely meant if hypothetically I was in a car accident tonight, need a blood transfusion, surgery then orthopaedic input for broken bones, rehab etc I wouldn't be presented with a bill at the end.
Your post was to highlight the benefits of telling the receptionist a brief outline of problem? Uti, chest infection, gastroenteritis etc. Unfortunately a can of worms have opened up about Individual experiences

To let you know that you're not doing yourself any favours by refusing to tell the GP receptionist your symptoms?

I'm sure you don't mean it to, OP, but your thread title comes across as a bit threatening.

Oh, and i don't care what your symptoms or concerns are. The only time I'll look up a patients notes again, is if I want to check they are ok (I once advised someone to call 999. I was worried all day and evening, so the next day I called to check they were ok. There's more to this, but I won't say because it could be identifying and therefore breach confidentiality!)

Here’s the thing though- not every practice is the same. So whilst your practice may be a model of efficiency, your receptionists paragons of virtue with a god-like reverence for patient confidentiality and no short-term memory, this is not necessarily true for everyone else. So it’s a bit pointless coming on here and telling us off for not liking this system just because it happens to work like a charm at your practice.

Except that it doesn't. The staff turnover is higher than McDonalds apparently because the patients are letting their feelings be known in robust fashion about this wondrous system.

"1. GPs do not typically earn six figure salaries"

Google says:
The typical NHS General Practitioner salary is £103,797
www.glassdoor.co.uk/Salary/NHS-General-Practitioner-Salaries-E12873_D_KO4,24.htm

I hope your DH was lucky Mrs Crane. My darling father went three times in four months with a bit of breathlessness and was three times diagnosed with chest infection and given antibiotics. On holiday in Scotland he collapsed and within 24 hours was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia. He died 8 months later. He may have died, probably would, if he'd been diagnosed earlier. But it doesn't leave one with much faith. Same GP also missed my mother's sepsis. Fortunately my step father insisted on a home visit when she couldn't get out of bed and a locum came.

I'd have a little more sympathy for the shit show if they were easier to dismiss for sheer incompetence. "Oh, CAMHS are useless and won't help; no point referring". Can you recommend someone privately then. "No we don't do that, we don't know outcomes" In front of my 16 year old who was cutting herself with razorblades and taking 6 paracetamol at a time AND who asked for help and who wanted help. Think about the impact and yes I did make a complaint about the stupid gp who said that in front of her.

So if the GP's on here will excuse me, it's time for a wake up call, time to be more effective and time to stop whining, stop being a government blaming bunch of lefties and time to sit up, shape up and get real and stop putting your paying customers last and treating them like entitled ingrates. I pay rafts of tax for your services and it's high time the average gp took on board the fact that their services aren't provided for free.

I shall happily vote for the first political party that recommends the abolition of the NHS as we know it. The systems in Europe work so much better but of course most hcps are opposed because it would mean they would have to provide more efficient and better quality services.

OP as you can see over and over again people have had bad experiences and that is what influences their opinions. Most people do not have an automatic stance of belligerence against speaking to receptionists it's experience that determines how many react

Ordinary snowflake makes a great point. With modern technology really you shouldn't need receptionists at all!

It should be simple to have an online system where patients enter a short message (either voice recognition, or using a website or text) to confidentially enter their triage info. The doctor can then review this much more effectively, software can group for key words eg diabetes, contraception, pregnancy, heart etc.

If the receptionist can't use the information in any way and is simply there to gather it, dear gods join the 21st century and use software to do this.

Yep, your turn over of staff suggests while you think the system works, a large number of the people who use the system - both paitents and receptionists - disagree.

It’s depressing that our family doctor’s are so overworked that this is how it is! Truly depressing.

Except that it doesn't. The staff turnover is higher than McDonalds apparently because the patients are letting their feelings be known in robust fashion about this wondrous system.

Well, quite. Damn those pesky patients, they just won’t be told what’s good for them! Thank god the OP is here to set us all straight.

Fucking apostrophe fail.

I totally agree with doc! Unfortunately some people are awkward!

When I've been in pain & needed to visit the GP. I didn't care who heard or which doctor was available to see me. I needed medicine that was not available at pharmacy without prescription

I agree with the triage system

However, this system may fail some people with poor communication skills

The triage system is the only way we can ensure that everyone who needs an appointment within 48 hours gets one.

But you are not ensuring that - not even for those who meet your criteria - you don't have the training to recognise all high risk circumstances. You get it wrong you lose your job, the patient loses their life.

The receptionists at our GP surgery are bloody awesome. I always phone for an appointment so no confidentiality issues. I am perfectly happy to give an outline of the problem. They’ve actually got me seen very quickly more than once because of the nature of the information I gave. They are so helpful and so positive.
Too many people want to see a GP about too many things. There aren’t enough appointments to go round. It’s a systemic problem.
But yay for all the brilliant receptionists.

It's not only getting through the receptionist. I was suffering from chronic uti's, I'd had 9 courses of antibiotics in 3 months, the GP I saw told me once I had finished the current course to make an appointment to see him again, bring in a sample, if that sample was clear he was going to put me on a long term course of low dose antibiotics. I tried to make another appointment with him but the receptionist refused to allow me to see him but put me in with a different GP who refused to put me on the long term course of antibiotics. Within a week I was back with another uti & the whole thing repeated. That's the biggest problem, you see one GP who decides on one course of treatment but because there is no consistency of who you see, you never get the treatment.