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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be sorry for this man

53 replies

Clappingforjoy · 24/09/2020 14:11

Asian man at doctors today and the reason I mention that he is Asian is because there was also a bit of a language barrier.
He was trying to tell the receptionist that he had had a accident at work and had badly hurt his back.
Receptionist was very off with him telling him he shouldn't have just walked in without an appointment and to go home and call them he was then trying to explain that he had tried to call and they wasnt answering the phone but the receptionist was clearly not interested and then handed him their number and sent him away despite him pleading for help.
Am I right in thinking this is a bad way to treat somebody.

OP posts:
Kaiserin · 24/09/2020 17:28

It's terrible practice. Some people can't hold a conversation on the phone, for various reasons (can be a language barrier, can be cognitive issues, can be difficulties with speech or hearing, etc.).

For instance my Dad had a stroke and would now struggle. He would manage a lot better in a face to face conversation, where you can use body language, write stuff down, etc.

A strict phone-only policy may well be in breach of the Equality Act. Essential services such as GPs have a legal duty to be accessible to everyone. And... not everyone has access to a phone, or can use one!

VillageGreenTree · 24/09/2020 17:34

The man was BU to go to the GP. The receptionist was correct.

AnyFucker · 24/09/2020 17:39

What did you think should have happened ?

Man should have been given an inappropriate walk-in appointment ? If they do it once, they have to do it for everyone.

Laiste · 24/09/2020 18:00

Who's appointment should they have cancelled to make time for him to have been seen then and there OP?

He was given the correct number to call and asked to go back home and ring it and be triaged over the phone like everyone else has to. If he's managed to move to this country, get a job, register at a GP surgery, and then turn up in person at said surgery because the phone number he had wasn't being answered, i imagine he's well aware of what ''A&E'' is Hmm

CandidaAlbicans2 · 24/09/2020 18:01

The receptionist was correct that he shouldn't have been there without an appointment, but her attitude was awful. He'd already explained he'd tried phoning and they weren't answering the phone, which was why he'd turned up, and all she could do was give him their phone number...which he already had! Hmm She could have gritted her teeth, apologised that he couldn't get through, kindly reminded him that he mustn't just turn up due to the pandemic, and to go to A&E instead. I'm sick of people like that in "customer" facing roles behaving as though they hate working with customers Angry And yes, I appreciate that some clients test your patience.

FirstOfficerDouglas · 24/09/2020 18:53

Of course it is not appalling. He was in the wrong place. She could not give him what he needed. She told him what he needed to do and gave him the number.

From her point of view she did what she could. Remember she would have been busy and exposed to and at risk of COVID as part of her job.

Would you really have taken a strange man in your car to the local hospital OP?

If there was a language barrier she would have had to have kept it simple.

Original poster
Clappingforjoy · 24/09/2020 20:20

Hey beautiful but stupid but a good deed hey done discreetly

OP posts:
Original poster
Clappingforjoy · 24/09/2020 20:22

Hell that didn't make sense it would have been a good deed to help somebody in need done discreetly beautiful.

OP posts:
Original poster
Clappingforjoy · 24/09/2020 20:23

First officer my dp was waiting in the car

OP posts:
Original poster
Clappingforjoy · 24/09/2020 20:27

And the amount of times they say they are fully booked with appointments yet the waiting room is empty lol so may they dont need to cancel anybody's appointment laiste.

OP posts:
missyB1 · 24/09/2020 21:01

Sounds like a typical “computer says no” officious receptionist. She may have been right that he couldn’t be seen by a GP but she could still have helped him to understand where he could go for help.

She’s probably still recovering from her empathy bypass surgery. As are a few posters on here.

eatsleepread · 24/09/2020 21:03

Poor guy - I hope he's ok.

AnyFucker · 24/09/2020 21:07

Sounds like a typical “computer says no” officious receptionist

No, it really doesn't. My front line dept gets it's fair share of unsolicited walk-ins. Many of them are simply entitled boundary pushers who think we owe them special dispensation. A smaller number are folk who simply do not understand the system and need educating. Not one of them should get what they are actually looking for because if they did, a hundred others would soon be lining up behind them.

Laiste · 24/09/2020 21:16

Clappingforjoy - And the amount of times they say they are fully booked with appointments yet the waiting room is empty lol so may they dont need to cancel anybody's appointment laiste.

So you think ... what? They're lying? And really the GPs and nurses are sitting around with their feet on the desks laughing while the receptionists are pretending they're fully booked?

How old are you? Have you ever worked in this sector?

keeprocking · 24/09/2020 21:17

I would have been told the same, one's race doesn't change the rules.

Original poster
Clappingforjoy · 24/09/2020 21:29

No laiste I'm not saying that but I think these days you have to push a bit because very often they can tweak things and and be more accommodating.

OP posts:
S111n20 · 24/09/2020 21:31

My doctors receptionists are sooo fucking rude trying to change but struggling with the current situation which I can completely understand.

CandidaAlbicans2 · 26/09/2020 10:35

...She could not give him what he needed. She told him what he needed to do and gave him the number...From her point of view she did what she could

@FirstOfficerDouglas She didn't give him what he needed though. He had told her that he had been phoning the surgery but the phone wasn't being answered - so he already had their contact details - but all she did was give him the phone number again. What she could've done was apologise that he was having trouble getting through (even if she didn't feel she technically needed to, you know, because it's a nice thing to do with distressed clients) and to either keep trying or to go to A&E, giving him the nearest A&E details.

Of course, because of covid, he shouldn't have just turned up but ill/injured/distressed people can make poor decisions (add the potential language barrier into the mix too) and he probably thought that as he couldn't contact them by phone (a very common complaint) he'd come in and try and make an appointment face to face. Logical, apart from the covid risk of course.

KarmaStar · 26/09/2020 11:16

I would have stepped in and if the receptionist refused,asked for the practise manager.Perhaps he required urgent treatment,he would not be the first one to be turned away when real medical intervention is needed.not your fault op,I wasn't implying that at all,just so cross this man was treated so horribly.

KeepingPlain · 26/09/2020 11:25

He went in to the wrong place yes, but she could have helped him more. In that situation, I'd have just phoned NHS 24 on his behalf, told them the issue and got him a triage appointment essentially at A&E.

People on here can claim 'how did he not know to go to A&E' but maybe he felt he would be a nuisance doing that? Unlike the other dumb British residents who go to A&E when they have a cold or a tiny rash and really are just wasting everyone's time. Maybe, like many British people, he doesn't know to phone 111 to get triaged, seen quicker and see if they can see him at all or need to.

If you go into a health service, your duty is to be helpful, not rude. She may only be a receptionist, but she can still help someone even in that way.

tttigress · 26/09/2020 11:53

Covid seems to be the gift that keeps on giving to allow people to slack off.

Any sort of poor service is excused by "yeah, but Covid"

I know a few people who have received poor medical treatment, with the excuse for lack of service being Covid. I recon more people will die due to lack of medical treatment for general conditions, rather than from Covid itself.

AnyFucker · 26/09/2020 12:10

Didn't this guy have back pain ?

A+E not appropriate.

seayork2020 · 26/09/2020 12:13

I dont think the policy should be changed for him but he could have been spoken to better, surley they have a telephone translation service they could have used to explain to him?

FirstOfficerDouglas · 26/09/2020 12:34

Candida - yes I agree that he didn't have all he needed but she gave him what she could at the time - and at least he knew that he was following the right process and eventually would get an apointment.

I think we are all making our own assumptions about the man (normal thing to do) whereas actually we don't know. Was he a poor suffering man lost in a new place and unable to work out the system? Was he a perfectly capable man with a house and a job but not-great language skills who was just pissed off at not being able to get through to the surgery?

He might be a lovely chap or a bullying bastard; he might not know a soul or he might have loads of friends and family who speak his language and can help him if he asked.

Was the receptionist trying her best, already under pressure and he was the third person to walk in a demand to be seen that morning? Or was she a jobsworth harridan being officious and uncaring?

There is always a trade off. If he got seen someone else didn't. If the receptionist spent time with him, someone else waits longer or doesn't get a call back. Sometimes that is fine - sometimes it isn't.

None of us knows.

Interesting question though. (And I admit I wouldn't have taken him in my car even if DP was there - lots of reasons)

DottyFlossie · 26/09/2020 13:03

The receptionist was following procedure