"Can I ask what it's for?"

[Syrinx89]

Is it normal for the receptionist to ask this question when booking a GP appointment over the phone? This happened to me for the first time on Monday when calling my local surgery for an appointment and I wondered what I would have said if it was something I wanted to keep confidential (thankfully, it wasn't!). Has anyone else had any experience with this? Is it allowed/the norm?

YABU - YES it is common practice
YANBU - No, this doesn't sit well

Charles Dance got it spot on when he was on Room 101 and said he wanted to put NHS receptionists in there because “they behave as if they are the gatekeepers to the NHS”. This was met with applause by the audience.

He, and the audience, were being unfair. The receptionists are employed by the doctors, and they do what the doctors have instructed them to do. It's ridiculous to think otherwise.

As those who think that the receptionists aren't capable of deciding which patient should see who, and when? Well clearly the doctors who employ and train them think they are.

What a thankless job it must be.

Works really well at my GPS. I rang with a painful breast that looked odd and had an appointment within 3 hours on the other hand I rang with a complaint that I have had before and no the symptoms well so the receptionist took a message and called back an hour later with my prescription sorted. It saves a lot of time when resources are already stretched.

Ex practice manager here. Reception staff are trained to ask and to offer the most appropriate options to patients. Partly to save wasting appointments (no point seeing a gp for stitches removing, bandages changing, holiday injections. They just send you back to reception to book with a nurse) and partly to catch emergencies. I have known a call where they wanted a gp appointment for a 3 year old who had taken a whole bottle of calpol and another where a lady didn't want to bother the ambulance when her husband was clearly having a stroke.

To the poster who mentioned being advised by the receptionist to try over-the-counter treatments - the doctors tell us to do this, too. I don't know if it's the same in all area but in ours at least, a year or two ago the prescribing guidelines were changed and GPs are now effectively not allowed to prescribe things that can be bought from the chemist. If the first-line treatment for your symptoms would be something you could buy from Boots, we have to ask you to try that first and come back if you're no better.

They've done it at our surgery for years. I think it's more to weed out the "I've got chest pains" from the "I've got a poorly finger" type of calls. They are usually very helpful if you say you would really like to be seen that day if possible. I'm sure they really don't want to hear most of it

No they aren't medically trained, but there's a certain amount of common sense involved.

Also, receptionists do sign a standard confidentiality agreement and if they wanted to, can read your notes at any time. They don't care, they are just doing their job.

My GP surgery has been doing this for many years.

My wife is a GP's admin / receptionist - patient confidentiality covers her too. There have been many times over the years when I have (for instance) found out some news in conversation and come home to ask her, "Did you hear? Such and such close friend is pregnant?" In the full knowledge that she has known for months and has been unable to mention it. Until I do. Then she's heard it from someone outside the remit of patient confidentiality and we can discuss it.

Quite often people (especially older patients) ring to make an appointment with 'the Doctor' when it's obvious that the practice nurse or the physio is who they really want to see. 'The Doctor' is their default setting. This is a small country practice and my wife knows 90% of the patients. Things like routine dressing changes and taking bloods for test are not what the doctor needs to be bothered with.

It's an absolute joke. Receptionists are not medically trained and aren't qualified to make judgements about what is urgent and what is not
They arent doing that. Another health care professional may be more suited to your condition than a Gp and have more expertise in that area. It is likely that you will be seen a lot quicker if you go to the appropriate professional.

At mine they do ask but I feel it's unnecessary as the doctor calls everyone anyway. Until last year, the system here was you called and asked to see the doctor and they booked you in without questions or anything but too many were things that a nurse or pharmacist could've dealt with so they introduced this so the doctor knows if you need to see them or not. It's annoying waiting for the call back but they'll see you if they need to. But yeah, I don't see the point in telling the receptionist as everyone gets a phone call asking what the problem is.

Normal at mine.
There's one receptionist there who has been there for years and years. She's lovely, and very discreet. She also makes sure I see the new doctor who helps me with my mental health. My usual GP is a bit of an arse as far as mental health goes. He just doesn't grasp it, but he's also been my regular GP for over 20 years and she knows that if it's something more personal such as a breast exam I'd be more comfortable with him performing it.

YABU our surgery has gps woth varying specialities so the receptionists ask what it is for so they can direct you to the right gp.

Normal at mine. They don't ask for details or specifics.

My current practice don't ask. If you book an advance appt on line, there is a box that you can put the reason in, but it's not mandatory. When I book online I always write what the reason is, I figure it gives the doc a heads up before I enter the room and that can only be a good thing. My practice is small and only ever has 1 GP in at a time, and there is only one nurse at the practice who works part-time. Despite this, it is very rare not to be able to get an appointment that day if you call early in the morning and are completely flexible about what time you can go for the appointment. On a few occasions I have specifically requested telephone appointments for myself or for my daughter regarding her medication because I know I didn't need to go in if it was mostly for a quick piece of advice or a prescription that I needed that wasn't a repeat. At my practice this is usually met with a little resistance from the receiptionists who always ask if you can go in to see the GP in person instead. I'm not sure why because this would clearly take up more of everyone's time. However when I say no and they I really don't need to and just need a telephone call they always book it in for me. It does mean bring available to take a call at any time though as depends on what the GP is doing that day as to when they fit in it.

Ours does not ask and I would be very reluctant to answer to be honest. I don't want the receptionist knowing what I need to be seen for if it is a very private thing.

On the other hand I can see why they do ask in order to triage appointments.

@Syrinx89 Doesn't bother me tbh.

The receptionist/telephonist who asks, forgets you within 10 seconds of putting the phone down.

As a few people have said, it's so they can direct you to the right health specialist.

When I book a GP appointment they never ask anyway.

When I ask a nurse they do.

I don't care.

Maybe you should get an online account. You won't get asked then.

*When I ask FOR a nurse, they do (ask what it's about/what it's concerning...)

They do this in mine and I really hate it! Especially as one of the receptionists is my weird stalker ex's aunt and he used to ask what I'd been to the drs for when we were still dating so she'd clearly told him I'd been in. What makes it worse is I'd never knowingly met the woman so she'd obviously been told my name or stalked me on social media herself!

It is normal at ours and I do get why they do it. I was under the impression receptionists were governed by the same confidentiality agreement as an other health care worker and I very much doubt they are bothered by me phoning to say the kids have an ear infection or something similar.

It seems to work quite well here, we have been directed to the nurse practitioner several times, but for other things or if we have already seen her, we have been given a doctors appointment with a wait relevant to the severity of the illness. (Our surgery offers appointments either on the day, within 5 working days or in 2weeks time).

I'm always shocked at how rude Mumsnet is about GPs' receptionists. I'm sure there's the odd wanker (I can recall one from when I was about 15 and i'm now 55) but mostly they are hardworking people doing their job as well as they can. If you feel judged by a receptionist asking you what it's for that's your problem. I've had health issues throughout my life and have had to visit a surgery more often than most.

When my kids were babies I was perfectly happy to be seen by the practice nurse as I knew they'd send me straight into the GP if it was needed.

The NHS is under huge pressure, and we don't have enough GPs. So it obvious that GP appointments are reserved for those that need them. And if you go through the other professionals at the surgery you'll almost certainly see the GP sooner than you would if you made a 'normal' appointment. I went in for a nurse appointment the other week, and was shunted straight into the GP between appointments and left with serious medication.

Mine only do this for emergency appointments but I've been known to ring the receptionist and describe my/my sons symptoms and ask if I need an appointment. Sometimes they say no but they'll have a script issued. Sometimes they say yes and book me in. Sometimes they disappear for 5 minutes and ask me to bring my son in straight away. They're good at their jobs and they're really helpful.

And if you go through the other professionals at the surgery you'll almost certainly see the GP sooner than you would if you made a 'normal' appointment
This is definitely true at our surgery. Dd had a nurse practitioner app, who deemed a doctors opinion to be needed. Within the hour we had seen the nurse practitioner, the gp for Confirmed proper diagnosis, practice nurse For a dressing and in the pharmacy to collect the prescription. If I’d asked to see the doctor, I’d probably have been waiting longer than that as they always seem to be running late! (Although that might be because of people in with the practise nurse needing to see the gp for confirmation I guess?)

he used to ask what I'd been to the drs for when we were still dating so she'd clearly told him I'd been in. What makes it worse is I'd never knowingly met the woman so she'd obviously been told my name or stalked me on social media herself!

I hope you reported her to the practice manager so she could be dealt with appropriately. You cannot generalise your experience with her to every GP receptionist though.

I think it's good. To be fair I work in medical admin. It's important to be able to know who to direct patients to. Your information is safe.

Agree with @ZarkingBell

Some people are very rude about doctors receptionists. I know several personally and can see what shit they get from angry ranty patients, when the issue is NOTHING to do with the receptionist, and they are doing everything they can to help. If they ARE snarky at all, it's usually a defence mechanism as they get attacked so often - usually for feck-all!