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.

My gp surgery is really really struggling, no routine appointments for three weeks, struggling to turn round repeat prescriptions. But when I phoned up this week, not sure if my concern could wait, after explaining this to the receptionist I was seen within an hour. So I'm grateful for the opportunity to explain.

Sorry but I rarely visit our gp because just dealing with the receptionists sends my blood pressure soaring. On a rare occasion I did see gp he asked me to rebook on way out for 2 weeks time, I laughed and said that I'd be lucky. I tried, they refused until Dr came out and told them that he'd asked me to book and there was a free appt. I really dont go unless absolutely have to, our receptionists are aweful

i agree had pain in calf after a big dog belted me at back of my knee,phoned up told receptionist few details ,was put on call back list for doctor, doctor phoned me within 5 minutes due to possible blood clot in leg with my symtoms seen fast ,ruled out blood clot ,so yes it works .

Sorry but with all respect to you ( I have also worked in the NHS for the past 30 years in Clinical Information) Patients should be able to make an appointment as soon as they need one, without the need to divulge personal information over the phone to a medically untrained receptionist.
They often get a bad name because of their attitude over the phone. I can count on my hand the number of times I’ve spoke to a pleasant one!
Yes they are employed to do a job, but not yours, and the way the GP system works now no wonder more people are using A&E and out of hours care as a quick way to get medical assistance.

If they are struggling with repeats. Why oh why do they insist on 56 day prescribing. I have thyroid disease. I have taken the same dose since 1991. Until about 2004 I got 365 tablets a year and a blood test a year. I still get an annual blood test.

If thrpughout the rest of the year my gp has time to faff about with 6 unnecessary prescriptions fine. But don't expect me to be grateful for the the trips to collect, the trips to the chemist, the calls when the practice cocks it up. If gps are too busy then better manage your workflows and perhaps acknowledge the inconvenience yr bizarre practices cause. But please don't whine you are overworked when you are making the work for yourselves.

I agree that the repeats issue is daft Roses. Even three months would be better.

so yes it works .

For you, on that occasion, yes it did.

For many more of us it doesn't.

The issue is that your are triaging because there isn't enough capacity and you are trying to meet a target. Yes, it's then based on clinical need, but if there was enough capacity you wouldn't need to triage. Therefore it's in place to suit the system (the broken system) not the patient really and we can tell that it's not truly based on our best interests.

I totally understand that sorting the capacity issue is near impossible with a political system that bats the NHS about like it's a ball at Wimbledon, but we have to stop pretending that this stuff is happening for the best interests of the patients from the start. If we had infinite capacity would we triage? What would create the best experience and outcome for patients, not having to tell a receptionist personal details I'm sure....

our surgery has a chemist in the building Swettenhams, I order online it was a 3 day turnaround then 4, this month it was a 7 day wait, so I was told to come back in a few days, well I needed my meds so went to reception, the receptionist advised me to use another chemist. I explained how urgent it was so she kindly got it done for me. When I walked back into the chemist they were advising patients to find another chemist. I have no idea what is going on there. But want to thank the receptionist who sorted my scrip out for me.

I have no issues explaining briefly why I need a doctor's appointment but on the rare occasion I don't want to I explain that I would rather not and they are generally ok with that. I'm lucky in that the receptionists know I will see only one doctor in regards to my mental health and I don't exactly want to explain I'm having a bad period with my mh. Anything else I'll discuss. There are some receptionists who are awful though and unless you tell them every detail of the need for the appointment they won't entertain you, and also, when you do tell those particular receptionists they will say you don't need a Dr 🙄. Really not their place and they are rude with it.

I like how your gp surgery works though, seems really efficient.

I’ve recently moved and don’t have a problem telling the receptionist at my new surgery details however I used to live in a village and there is no way I would tell them anything.

All of the reception/admin staff were from the village and 4 members of the same family worked there. I was friends with the younger sister from said family when I was younger and she would always tell our friendship group gossip her older sisters and mum had found out from working at the surgery. “So and so is pregnant, so and so has cancer and etc” so I can totally see why people would refuse to share information with anyone but their GP.

If on benefits you go free.
Under 7s go free
Those with chronic illness go free
Everyone else pays £50 and is reimbursed by the mutuelle.

Insured schemes are always compared with the US. Seriously the system in France and the organisation and service is awesome. I would switch in a heartbeat.

Why did you post this OP?

Has the OP been back? Either she's hidden the thread or has been doing an extra on-call shift through a subcontracted agency.

LaMarschallin

It's insulting to suggest they would be any less careful with the data they are exposed to than clinicians. Any data breach is dealt with using stringent procedures

Nonsense
I was a doctors receptionist and I wasn’t even asked about confidentiality, latbaline warned. I did used to while away the time reading the notes of people I knew too. Sorry - but it happens.

Thank god my surgery isn't like the ones I'm reading about.
It has no call waiting time, appointments either same day for emergencies or next day or few later for routine with no questions asked by the receptionist.
The receptionists sit behind a glass screen with a sliding window so when it's closed you can't hear telephone conversations.
And the receptionists are very nice and helpful.

Your 'triage' is being done by telephone receptionists over the phone. It's no wonder your patients don't like it.
And it doesn't sound like it's working too well if your staff turnover is high because of patient abuse. Your patients are not happy so something isn't working.

There is only one receptionist who I would consider discussing any details with at my surgery as all of the other decent ones have left / retired.

Talking to the male receptionist is like talking to a plank of wood and I would feel extremely uncomfortable discussing any personal health problems with him. Having said that, I wouldn't feel uncomfortable as it wouldn't happen under any circumstances. I might mention an ingrowing toenail though.

Thankfully, my GP does not operate this system anyway, so unless patients choose to mention their health concern, no-one has to do this. Personally, I am very grateful for this.

And I get that the demand is too high for your capacity but your system doesn't seem overly efficient as the patient and surgery have to make contact 3 times before getting a resolution to the medical issue; they call and explain to the receptionist first, then the doctor calls them back, then they see the doctor for an appointment.
Some may not be given appointment so that cuts out one step but what percentage of patients are not given appointments as it's deemed not necessary?

A lot of time is spent on the phone I imagine, how much time do these telephone consultations save in a day as opposed to an appointment?
Is the patient happy at the end of the telephone consult?

"GPs I know who moved to work in European countries generally say they prefer working in the system where patients pay appointment fees as it cuts down on daft appointments"

The UK is a European country.
Also, I don't necessarily agree that in countries where you pay for an appointment that there are fewer minor complaints. I actually think it's quite often the opposite in that people don't feel guilty for making an appointment. I was shocked when I went abroad and people talked about going to the GP just for a checkup - I'd only heard of that for the over 70s. There were also people going and asking for a blood test just because they felt a bit tired. They didn't have the awkwardness and guilt that people feel here about making appointments and they could have them at convenient times.

It's insulting to suggest they would be any less careful with the data they are exposed to than clinicians. Any data breach is dealt with using stringent procedures

No it isn't.
If a clinician is found guilty of breaching confidentiality they could be struck off and lose their right to practice for ever.
Not quite the same for a receptionist.

Tiger Tooth

I quoted the first paragraph then added my post. As above.
So the "nonsense" was written by a different poster.

I totally believe you, though.
I bet you did.

And I also very much agree the NHS isn't a free service only free at the point of delivery, it's not the same.
I'm very grateful for it but I do expect a service that is suitable for the users not just for the surgery. It's all very well being efficient in terms of the business but your patients are your business so some middle ground would be beneficial.

I take the OPs point but I avoid the surgery where I’m registered as a patient because the receptionist team was so unutterably rude and unfailingly, appallingly unpleasant. I dread falling ill and having to deal with them. I can only hope they’ve improved, but am reluctant to enter the dragons’s lair and find out.

It does seem like a lot of people on here have encountered unpleasant receptionists. I'm lucky in that all the ones at our local GP are either nice or at least neutral.
The vets where I work has brilliant receptionists. It is the busiest, most high pressure practice I have worked in and I call the front desk the cauldron- they deal with the input and output of 4 consult rooms (nail clips to euthanasias and everything in between) plus a grooming parlour plus 3 phone lines plus putting up all the drugs prior to vet countersigning them plus enquiries relating to referrals and insurance (lots of) plus funnelling questions about day patients undergoing surgery and inpatients to the relevant nurses and vets. They are also the first people shocked members of the public or pet owners (our clients or not) see when a pet is hit on the big fast road right outside our driveway. They're in full view with almost no respite and I think I'd hate being a receptionist but...

They are also carefully selected and trained. Our head receptionist is ace. She is very good at choosing candidates at interview (the practice partners and practice manager let her pick her own team, I think). She trains them all to a very high standard and all of them do specialised veterinary receptionist online training with exams. She and several of the others attend CPD meetings too and we are signed up to a "secret shopper" type thing to test our receptionist phone skills as a practice . They do get the occasional complaint but many, many more cards, flowers and boxes of chocs from clients than complaints.
I never really appreciated how much of a skill good reception-ing is till I started working there.

@OhTheRoses my df has to take statins but only gets 3 weeks worth at a time. It is so unnecessary and meant that despite requesting 8 weeks worth so he could travel half way around the world to see my db and travel for 2 months, he went to collect and was told 3 weeks was the max. He just didn't take them in the end. How is that a good solution?