From GP practice managers

[Bagamoyo1]

m.youtube.com/watch?fbclid=IwAR2ZqCHbGq9Tn0WtOYD5B8y8CnjF-MjkmH2tAEz42wEArKz-pl0QRb5s9hI&v=3ru4QhVZ2a8&feature=youtu.be

As a GP practice worker myself I saw this video and just breathed a sigh of relief. Relief that it's not personal to me. This week I can honestly say, I have for the first time questioned my career choices (I'm part time clinical, part time reception).

Why didn’t the GP practise hire more staff then. On the phones in Covid times working from home to help deal with the extra onslaught of desperate people trying to get help. GPs are privately funded.
Many companies didn’t make any money, people took pay cuts etc. Just to keep going.
Why would that not apply to GPs

@Taliskerskye

Nurses in A&E didn’t just get to say, thanks but no thanks

Indeed they did not!

There's no denying there isn't enough GPs and appointments to see them. The system is also not set up for people to access normal life and is in dire need of an overhaul.

So unless you need to see a Dr urgently that day (the ring at 8am situation) how do you consult a Dr for non life-threatening situations that can't be dealt with by pharmacy, nurse or A&E as dh and I have found lately? We don't have jobs where we can take calls, they don't ring at the times they say they will, if they ring at all. Everything is shut by 6pm which is when lots of people get home by.

Again there is no excuse for threats of violence and abuse of reception staff but it is SO frustrating to get in to see a doctor and then have time to discuss and explore treatment options.

And yes some receptionists are exceptionally rude just like in any job, the way I have heard some address people they'd get sacked in other jobs for speaking like that.

No amount of inefficiency in the system warrants these people being spoken to in that way. They are not the problem, the Government is.

@crumpethunter

You are mistaken on two counts.

1. It's the patients saying "if I die it'll be your fault" to the Receptionists. Not the other way round.

1. I spent the majority of the pandemic working in an NHS hospital, mainly with Covid patients. I now work in general practice. To say that GPs have not been affected with increased workloads or personal risk is ignorant at best.

The behaviour mentioned in this video is utterly inexcusable. It is obscene that anyone can attempt to justify it.

No one is justifying it.
But it’s pretty amazing that a thread is started like this and it’s mostly people agreeing that things like that shouldn’t be said, but overall extremely pissed off with their doctors surgery and all in encompasses

People are at the end of their tether.

I agree, GP surgeries seem to be completely oblivious to what has been going on in hospitals (I’m a HCP).
My dad nearly died last week. It was wholly preventable. He’s spent months trying to see a GP

Working with the public is often shit - try doing the shift on the refund counter in M&S after Christmas!

I have been a Drs receptionist and yes you get difficult people who are not at their best, but I never had some of the issues my colleagues did. That's because I treated people with respect and clearly tried to solve the issues they had.

Most of my colleagues meanwhile were of the variety that you see complained about on here - rude, aggressive, thought they were medically trained and tbh completely fucking lazy.

The behaviour mentioned in this video is utterly inexcusable. It is obscene that anyone can attempt to justify it

This. Some people are trying to justify it though. It's really uncomfortable to read.

Surely there is a bit of different between being racist or abusive & asking how to get an appointment?

[quote Taliskerskye]@Exhaustedyetstillgoing
eh??
What we believe we are entitled to? What a strange sentence to write.
Most people want an extremely basic service. And you think people think are too entitled. Wow[/quote]
Not strange at all. Many people want the "normal" service and have on the whole an accurate notion of what a GP Practice can provide. Both during Covid and prior to it.
However, a rapidly increasing number of people have a disproportionate expectation of what they can expect from their GP Practice. And when we can't meet these expectations - we are abused and criticised.
I spend my days trying to work out a way to meet patient expectation within the framework that we have available. I don't have enough GP's and have been unsuccessful in recruiting because who the hell would want to be on the receiving end of such vitriol and hatred every single fucking day.
General Practice were INSTRUCTED to cease face to face patient contact during covid. INSTRUCTED. Face to face contact where it was clinically necessary has never stopped.

I'm not naive to think that all Practices were able to provide this but I also don't believe that they would have chosen to be in that position.
Each of us has our own experience of General Practice (in the main as a patient) and I really feel for those of you are registered at Practices who have been able to fulfil their obligations. But please, if we are not sufficiently funded or resourced then we cannot meet your needs. We want to, we desperately want to; that's what we got into this for. But the vitriol and abuse is misdirected as the situation is not our making.

@Itsnotalwaysasyouthink

I agree, GP surgeries seem to be completely oblivious to what has been going on in hospitals (I’m a HCP). My dad nearly died last week. It was wholly preventable. He’s spent months trying to see a GP

And I would counter that with secondary care having absolutely no clue as to what has been happening in primary care. Zero clue.

You are private companies run for profit. In this pandemic my company lost 70% of its profit.
I didn’t pay myself.
My staff took 20% pay cuts.
Did you?

@Itsnotalwaysasyouthink

I agree, GP surgeries seem to be completely oblivious to what has been going on in hospitals (I’m a HCP). My dad nearly died last week. It was wholly preventable. He’s spent months trying to see a GP

Sorry, I should have also said that I hope your dad is doing ok - that must have awful for you all

@Taliskerskye

You are private companies run for profit. In this pandemic my company lost 70% of its profit. I didn’t pay myself. My staff took 20% pay cuts. Did you?

Firstly, I'm not a clinician. Additionally I am not a partner but an employee. Since March last year I have worked on average between 60-70 hrs per wk. I am on annual leave this week and have had to respond to emails and queries every. Single. Day.

You're damn right I haven't taken a pay cut.

My dad, 89, looked close to death three weeks ago, after a sudden illness and fall. Could we raise the gp surgery by telephone or email? Could we fuck.

Many people want the "normal" service and have on the whole an accurate notion of what a GP Practice can provide.

I still found it completely unacceptable why my elderly relative who had spent 6 wks in hospital & had had strokes & open heart surgery couldn't even talk to a GP to discuss post op care & get a prescription. Not every older person has someone to advocate for them. I was never rude or abusive I simply wanted to know how I could get medication for said relative.

I'm confused by practice that doesn't provide the above.

@TheVanguardSix

I just think it's the wrong approach... entirely. I think that was a poor choice of wording and it feels very antagonistic. I wonder who thought this was an appropriate message? For every paranoid wack-job who shows up at a surgery with a hammer (believe me, I've dealt with those patients over the years) there are thousands of more patients registered at that very practice who would never ever behave in such a manner. DH is a GP. DH did face-to-face appointments. He did get Covid from a patient and he did end up in ICU, ventilated. He survived. He did not, for one hot minute, blame the patient. What good was 'If I die it's your fault' ever going to do him? Where does that get anyone? As it happens, his receptionists all got Covid... from each other. So... it's a pandemic. You can tell people to be careful, be cautious, follow the rules and guidelines, be as diligent as possible. But once you start blaming people for your Covid, that just gets you nowhere. If I die, it's your fault. I don't like that message at all. There has been a totally substandard level of (NHS) care courtesy of covid. It's not anyone's fault. It's just that we have a healthcare system that cannot deliver the care people expect and yes, deserve, even in a pandemic. Limited hospital beds and staff, stopping cancer treatment, prolonging diagnoses, shelving services under 'temporary measures' have all been catastrophic for patients and their families. And now, GPs are desperately trying to play catch-up. But on top of that, there is an avalanche of mental health problems courtesy of a pandemic that has wreaked havoc on people's livelihoods and health. It's an utter shitstorm. And there is no quick fix. I don't think messages like the one in this video do the NHS ANY favours. I'm not sure guilt-tripping patients is the answer.

@TheVanguardSixDidcyou actually watch the video?!

It's really not as simple as just 'hiring more staff'. There is a national shortage of GPs and nurses. Without medically trained staff you cannot safely provide services.

It isn't an issue that one GP practice can solve by throwing cash at it. Ok you might be able to get more phones answered but that's about it.

@TheVanguardSix

I just think it's the wrong approach... entirely. I think that was a poor choice of wording and it feels very antagonistic. I wonder who thought this was an appropriate message? For every paranoid wack-job who shows up at a surgery with a hammer (believe me, I've dealt with those patients over the years) there are thousands of more patients registered at that very practice who would never ever behave in such a manner. DH is a GP. DH did face-to-face appointments. He did get Covid from a patient and he did end up in ICU, ventilated. He survived. He did not, for one hot minute, blame the patient. What good was 'If I die it's your fault' ever going to do him? Where does that get anyone? As it happens, his receptionists all got Covid... from each other. So... it's a pandemic. You can tell people to be careful, be cautious, follow the rules and guidelines, be as diligent as possible. But once you start blaming people for your Covid, that just gets you nowhere. If I die, it's your fault. I don't like that message at all. There has been a totally substandard level of (NHS) care courtesy of covid. It's not anyone's fault. It's just that we have a healthcare system that cannot deliver the care people expect and yes, deserve, even in a pandemic. Limited hospital beds and staff, stopping cancer treatment, prolonging diagnoses, shelving services under 'temporary measures' have all been catastrophic for patients and their families. And now, GPs are desperately trying to play catch-up. But on top of that, there is an avalanche of mental health problems courtesy of a pandemic that has wreaked havoc on people's livelihoods and health. It's an utter shitstorm. And there is no quick fix. I don't think messages like the one in this video do the NHS ANY favours. I'm not sure guilt-tripping patients is the answer.

I took the video to mean those were things that were said to the receptionists, not that they were telling patients it would be their fault if the receptionist died? Along with all the other comments they read out in the clip.

This is what happens when the government want privatisation
They push every one to their absolute limits and watch us beg to pay insurance for private healthcare because we can’t take it anymore

@TrufflyPig
All most people wanted is for someone to answer the bloody phone.

I have just made a complaint to my GP in a phone appointment I have waited three weeks for.
I had a flare up of my COPD just three weeks after my last attack.I had been told to ring GP if I have two bad attacks in a short space of time before I resort to taking my rescue drugs again.I rang GP for this purpose and receptionist informed me, without asking my name, to take my rescue drugs.I took them as I was desperate and struggling to breathe.They worked fine I complained because receptionist had taken in her head to tell me without consulting a doctor.One of the drugs is Prednisolone which should be taken with care.
GP was very understanding on the phone and assured me it would not happen again.By that I mean receptionist instructing me to take medications without asking for details,

@LuaDipa my condolences. I really feel for older &/or more vulnerable people who can't navigate the system so to speak.

I agree with @notanothertakeaway about the video.

I clicked on this thread as the video had just been posted by my surgery on fb and I'd just watched it. No comment on it on their fb post but another post has been put up explaining that sometimes staff have to contend with some of these comments. I don't think it's the right way to deal with the issue and is offensive to many patients, especially at a time when many have been unable to access essential routine care and many people's MH has been affected by the pandemic.