Why are GP receptionists so rude?

[cosmikdebris]

Every single one I've experienced,especially now I'm a mum, seem to act like guardians of the nhs. I've been trying to sign up to my local GP since JUNE LAST YEAR! They've lost my sign up forms 3 times, told me my information is wrong twice and straight up told me to 'sign up else where if i don't like how they practice' and have also told me I'm an irresponsible parent for missing my daughters first jab date (I missed it because they lost mine and her sign up forms may I add).

I tried another go slightly further away yesterday, only to be treated with more attitude and rudeness. I'm so desperate for some help with my mental health, and I've got a backlog of different physical things I need checked, I don't understand why they're all so eager to work against you! Surely they should be required to be calm and compassionate towards people, considering doctor's surgeries are generally full of unwell people.

I just don't understand it. Maybe it's more stressful than I think it is? Maybe I'm just unlucky! Or maybe they're required to put up a front so people don't waste the time of doctors? It's not difficult to just be nice to people though...is it?

Janegrey333 the irony of it.

If someone is rude, they are rude, not because of their job. Their job doesn't make them rude. Our receptionist at the GP is lovely, very polite and helpful.
Please don't generalise. It's rude

@Newkitchen123

If someone is rude, they are rude, not because of their job. Their job doesn't make them rude. Our receptionist at the GP is lovely, very polite and helpful. Please don't generalise. It's rude

We’re not at work, currently.

I wish that everyone who has taken the time to make nasty comments could come & try a day in my shoes

I worked in a youth offending team in an inner city for years. I've had furniture chucked at my head, been spat at, had a drug dealer try and extract money from me as a client owed him, threatened with violence, threatened with an aggressive dog etc. So no, doctor's receptionists don't have a monopoly on tough days or demanding people.

I have never used that as an excuse to treat subsequent clients in a rude or offhand manner or an excuse for being generally unpleasant.

This thread could easily be titled “why are patients so rude”, because plenty of them are.

It’s wrong to generalise.

@QueenOfTheDoubleWide - that's very true! Or another classic (pre-covid)....
Clinician running late...patient comes up to reception...
'I've been waiting ages, this is ridiculous, I've got things to do', shouting at receptionist
Clinician; Mrs Smith? Sorry to keep you waiting '
Patient; 'oh that's okay Doctor, no problem, I've got all day' !!!!

But on that note when the receptionists refers to the GP as Sarah, Ben or Caroline she (or he) may refer to me as Roses. For as long as the receptionist refers to the GPs as Dr Brown, Dr Jones and Dr Smiff she or he may refer to me as Mrs Hellebores. It's basic equality and courtesy.

Do you ever stop banging on about this?! Take a day off, I beg you.

@Bagamoyo1

This thread could easily be titled “why are patients so rude”, because plenty of them are. It’s wrong to generalise.

I'd say that if a large percentage of people you interact with at work (i.e. "plenty of" the patients) are rude to you, there might be something to look at in the tone you're setting.

Whereas I'd bet most people who say they've found GP receptionists rude and unhelpful rarely come across this in their interactions with people working elsewhere, suggesting the problem lies in the receptionists, not the patients.

There's a reason GP receptionists have this bad reputation, and it seems unlikely that that reason is vast swathes of the gen. pop. suddenly turning into demanding arseholes the moment they pass the threshold of a GP surgery.

(As I said earlier in the thread, I found myself making a rude, snarky comment to a GP receptionist myself, and usually I'm extremely conflict-averse and always treat customer service staff with respect and politeness — it's just something about their manner that they're able to rile me up when nobody else can, with their combination of incompetence, laziness, rudeness, and blame-shifting.)

They probably experience more then their fair share of rude ‘customers’, but then by the nature of their job people are only contacting them in first place because they are worried or stressed about something that to them is very important. So they should expect to have to be more patient with people than a shop assistant or whatever.

In my experience, GP receptionists can be lovely, but only when I fall over myself to be sickly sweet and lovely to them. Just a normal level of courtesy doesn’t seem to cut it. You have to kiss their arses to get anything useful out of them.

@NoIDontLikeTrains I’m not a GP receptionist, I’m a GP. And patients aren’t rude to me. So you’re wrong when you suggest I should look at the tone I’m setting.
But I know plenty of them are rude to receptionists.

Baga I was using a generic "you", rather than assuming you personally are a GP receptionist.

But there's nothing in what you've said that proves my point wrong. The patients may be politer to you through a combination of your power and prestige and, yes, your personal manner.

Your role is rather different to that of a receptionist; the right comparator is not the GP, but other people working on the phones or at the front desk at organisations where customers are stressed and may not get what they think they need. There's plenty of those, but none of them have quite the reputation GP receptionists have acquired for themselves.

There's a reason GP receptionists have this bad reputation, and it seems unlikely that that reason is vast swathes of the gen. pop. suddenly turning into demanding arseholes the moment they pass the threshold of a GP surgery.
I think it's people having confirmation bias. They've encountered a rude receptionist, because there's rude people in every line of work, and then they might speak to several nice people and only register the rude one again.

I also think there's a reasonably large minority of people who are really quite arsey with staff they see as beneath them, usually receptionists, admin staff, retail workers, hospitality staff, anyone who is service user facing in local councils etc. In my experience they don't take well to totally professional interactions that don't involve staff fawning over them.

Nice to know that I'm a power hungry dumbarse, wannabe Hitler who thinks Doctors are akin to God.

Try rereading my post. I said it attracts a certain personality type, not that all receptionists exhibit this characteristic. It's a fairly simple and clear distinction.

I wish that everyone who has taken the time to make nasty comments could come & try a day in my shoes

I love the assumption your job is harder than anyone else's on this thread.

Confirmation bias is definitely a thing, but I'm not sure I've seen posts stating every GP receptionist is an arsehole?

I can't actually remember any other customer service person I've come across, in any industry, being as useless and rude as I've had at least two different GP receptionists be to me, and that's on top of many low-level not-very-polite/helpful interactions. Of course I've seen my fair share of perfectly reasonable GP receptionists too.

Ours our lovely - professional, kind and helpful. There was one in our old dentists that was a bit scary though...

@KathleenTurnerOverdrive

Is there a course and on the job training or is it an excuse for your DD to have in house training but be paid an apprentice's wage instead of minimum wage?

I believe it is a 2 year NVQ
Unit 1: Obstreperousness 101
Unit 2: Compassion and common sense: your enemies at work
Unit 3: Bellowing confidential information across a waiting room.
Unit 4: How to lose friends and humiliate people.
Unit 5: Body language: how to maintained that slapped arse look 9-5.

Is that supposed to be funny She's learnt useful skills, yes it involves an NVQ. She actually has realised she doesn't want to do that for ever and is going to university this year. She works hard and earns a good wage for a teenager living at home. You wonder why reception staff are rude when that's your expectation of them!!

Is that supposed to be funny hmm She's learnt useful skills, yes it involves an NVQ.

No it's funny that they they think answering a phone and telling people to take a seat in the waiting room requires an apprenticeship. I suspect it's a con to avoid paying her properly.

You wonder why reception staff are rude when that's your expectation of them!!

I expected me to treat me as i treat them in a polite and professional manner. I have not experienced that from a significant minority of receptionists at doctor's surgeries.

@YouAlreadyKnow when it ceases to be an issue, I'll stop banging on about it. No human is subordinate to a Dr or any other individual. Therefore they and their staff may address me as the equal of every other stakeholder. If a doctor and/or their staff expect them to be addressed formally they may return the courtesy. It is a question of basic good manners.

My bank manager, solicitor and accountant all use my first name because they use theirs. They and their staff are 99% without exception lovely. The same cannot be said for those who work in the NHS.

The difference is, I pay them directly so they have to exercise courtesy.

The same cannot be said for those who work in the NHS.

Doctor's receptionists are generally not employed directly by the NHS, so you are grinding you axe in the wrong place. That doesn't excuse the cuntish behaviour most people on this thread have experienced at their hands.

OP, a very close family member of mine was a GP receptionist. She acted like a horrible cow to look bigger and better than she was. Interfered with people's prescriptions and illegally looked into people who she knows medical records! 😱 The latter (and illegal) part aside, she would tell all and sundry about how AWFUL patients were and how hard she would work to curb their "obnoxious" behaviour.

That aside, I've met a few horrible GP receptionists myself. However, there are some who are kind and patient.

@KathleenTurnerOverdrive

Is that supposed to be funny hmm She's learnt useful skills, yes it involves an NVQ.

No it's funny that they they think answering a phone and telling people to take a seat in the waiting room requires an apprenticeship. I suspect it's a con to avoid paying her properly.

You wonder why reception staff are rude when that's your expectation of them!!

I expected me to treat me as i treat them in a polite and professional manner. I have not experienced that from a significant minority of receptionists at doctor's surgeries.

It's funny that you think all they do is answer the phone and tell people to take a seat in the waiting room.