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.

I used to work in a private maxilliofacial clinic on Harley street and I'd ask patients what the appointment was for and I could never understand why they wouldn't tell me. I just used to say well we take the £300 payment upfront so if you're seeing the wrong specialist there's nothing we can do. Half the time it was something completely irrelevant to the doctors field and I saved them £300. Why are people so secretive!

I've often wondered. I thought they were being nosey. This is very interesting - thanks for sharing this.

Tell it to the parents of this boy @pinkstripeycat

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/uk/2010/mar/24/sam-linton-asthma-death

A perfect example of why people with no qualification shouldn’t triage.

Lol, this is no more a doctor writing the OP than I'm a neurologist.

And if it is???????? MN is not the place to tell your patients about your triage process.....

Ok so what happens if there is no division into urgent and less urgent? If you give every patient who wants one an appointment that day, and there's no room for anyone else by 8.40, do you then turn away everyone who rings without establishing if they need urgent care? Because that would call for a whole system change which would see many more people needing to use walk in centres etc.

It's mildly irritating but necessary - I honestly can't think of a different way of doing it. I think the irritation stems from the fact that it seems someone not medically qualified is effectively pre-triaging it, based solely on your tone of voice and expressed symptoms. It all depends on the receptionist, at the end of the day. But a different way of doing it, I'd be interested to hear

Posters, this is not a doctor writing. This is a GP receptionist writing.

@privateeyefan you are right, of course you are but this is MN and you will have every excuse thrown at you as to why your explanation just doesn't cut it.

The fact is, this is an imperfect world where we cannot all have our own way, whether it is privacy in awaiting room, speedy answering of the phone or anything else this lot can think of.

When the NHS is privatised and they have to start PAYING for EVERY treatment, GP, dentist or hospital ALL of these minor complaints will suddenly pale in significance.

The benefit of hindsight.

I honestly can't think of a different way of doing it.

1. Doctors not prioritising their case load on whether the patient has told the receptionist their symptoms or not

1. Doctors not picking and choosing who they'd like to see/prioritise and not being so judgemental

1. Receptionists trained in how to handle patients with care and compassion and not being so judgemental

1. Both doctors and receptionists understanding that they are there to serve the public. It's not some power play/ego boosting game.

Erm...I'm a vet not a doctor but I wouldn't be giving a dog I suspected was going into an Addisonian crisis a wee jag of steroids alone at the branch practice, a pat on the head and send it home!! I'd be hustling them up to the main hospital bit or send the practice van to collect it if necessary, and get it on fluids with serial blood potassium and cardiac monitoring!! Sheesh!! A+E was the place to go (not your GP's fault you were sitting in A+E for hours).

And even when we pay for everything, if it's anything like my experience living in the US, you will still have to wait weeks for an appointment AND tell a receptionist what's wrong. In fact, if you don't tell them, you'll get much shorter shrift than here.

We are asked by the receptionist why we want to see the doctor and given an appointment there and then. I don’t think we should have to tell the receptionist what’s wrong in detail but at our local doctors they do insist we give them as much information. It doesn’t go on a triage list it just tells the doctor why we are going into the surgery. I rang for my daughter , who is in her twenties and when the receptionist asked the reason she wanted the appointment I did have to say it was between my daughter and the doctor and not me and the receptionist, which she fully understood the situation.
Where we live a lot of people don’t like discussing what’s wrong with the receptionist as the local doctors is that local to the village and people know the receptionists on first name terms as most live in the village and surrounding area.

I really do not understand why so many think that all the personal accounts of why they do not feel they can say anything to doctors receptionists is not taken seriously. All very well saying any breech would be severely punished or oh I have no problems etc etc. Obviously breeches HAVE and DO happen. Especially in smaller communities where every knows every and its bad enough when Betty across the road is a curtain twitcher and knows every coming and going in the neighbourhood without them knowing of your medical business as well. Would people stop minimalising others experiences just because they don't fit your narrative.

FelicisNox
But a lot of people already pay for the dentist.

Whilst I understand what you’re doing, I don’t have any issues with telling a receptionist my problem, it worries me!

My friend rang up with a pain In a joint, she wanted an urgent app as she has Hogkins lymphoma ( not sure of actual name spelling). Receptionist said no, and wouldn’t make appointment urgently. Told her 3 weeks!!! Friend didn’t settle and somehow got in through a and e. It turned out it was a growth, a year of chemo and other treatments later and she’s hoping to be clear for now.

My point is it’s difficult for people to trust untrained receptionists making decisions! And I’d feel for those who are embarrassed too!

I had a GP receptionist refuse to make me an urgent appt because she honed in on ‘dry mouth’ being one of my symptoms and had a very sceptical tone of voice that this was a problem.

Before my appt came around I was in a and e being diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. . .

On the other hand my current doctors suggests including a one or two line summary when you book but this is more for the drs as background so in this case then fair enough.

Really bemused by the people who think GPs shouldn't get to see a higher load of the cases that suit their field of interest. If you needed to see an orthopedic consultant and rang the ortho clinic, and the receptionist asked what the problem was would you tell them, or think "stop asking questions you jumped up power crazy bitch, hand specialist, knee surgeon...they've all passed the fucking orthopedic consultant exams haven't they, so who cares??" If it was pretty urgent and the hand surgeon was on her holidays then grand I'll see whoever is next best and available but if she was there then why not?

When the NHS is privatised and they have to start PAYING for EVERY treatment, GP, dentist or hospital ALL of these minor complaints will suddenly pale in significance.

Stop with the emotional blackmail.

Every single time we have this "Ah but it's free, you wait when it's privatised" statement it only serves to soften up service users to accept substandard treatment. It does the NHS no favour. People are rightly unhappy with the way appointments are given, they have a right to demand better.

The fact is, this is an imperfect world where we cannot all have our own way, whether it is privacy in awaiting room, speedy answering of the phone or anything else this lot can think of.

Confidentiality and personal dignity are cornerstones of the NHS.

You might want to educate yourself on it.

@KindnessCrusader the receptionist has absolutely no part in the decision making process. Perhaps you need to re-read the original post.

Your daughter’s case sounded dreadful but I imagine that particular receptionist was not following best practice. I hope you complained about her.

An orthopedic consultants receptionist/PA within a hospital is a totally different thing than a local doctors receptionist within a small community not at all comparable IMO

Wow privateeye, you might be very good doctor from a medical point of view, but you seem to be devoid of empathy and human understanding. Scary.

There have been issues I haven't been able to open up to with my closest friends and which took a lot to tell my GP. I can't imagine having had to tell the receptionist!

Also bemused by the people who sarkily say that an appointment "miraculously" appeared in a booked up day when they were asked about and described their symptoms, as if it's a gotcha.

This just means the system is working as it should and one of the appointments scattered through the day reserved for urgent stuff that crops up has been released to you. If these didn't exist and every slot was filled from 9am onwards in order of who rang first then there would be days crammed with routine stuff leaving no room for the urgents that only became apparent a bit later.
If those slots happen not to get filled then I think it unlikely the GPs spend the time picking their nose and staring out the window. It can be used as catchup time if they're running behind or used to chase lab results, write scripts or other "filler" if the next person hasn't arrived early. Or even for a pee and a glass of water, the self indulgent bastards.

Not every surgery is the same sadly.
If we want an appointment for that day or next you ring at 8:30 am and the lines are jamed . Up until recently you could have booked a non emergency appointment online or on the phone at any time. No you cannot book anything online and to get a non emergency appointment you phone at 8:30 am on a Monday. ( almost impossible) I tried to get one and it will have been a month from i first rang until i see the dr.
Most of our receptionists are Attila the hun. I will tell them my symptoms when they qualify medically.
The problem is there are not enough drs ( an over lot of receptionists) and regular patients who get seen weekly .
What one person classes as a non emergency another will regard as one and others even go to a&e , all with the same thing.
Our pratice has good drs but it has got much worse trying to get an appointment.