Hello everyone,
Just looking for a bit of advice and/or opinions really.
I have been working as a receptionist in a GP surgery for 9 months now. The job is ok, although there is a lot of discord between staff and management. Over the last few month I have noticed all the failings in the practice and it is starting to concern me, but I am not sure what to do about it.
One of the issues I have is that 3 of the doctors are over 80 years old. This is not the problem as such but their attitudes are very old school and they are more often than not grumpy and snap at us. The main GP will come into the office, bark orders at the first person he sees and if we need to ask anything he shouts "how can we work like this!?" and storms off. He talks really fast and has absolutely no patience or common courtesy. If I mention it to the practice manager her response is "oh that's just Dr X's way". I've never experienced this sort of treatment from superiors in any other job I've had.
This is just a small example of what we have to put up with.
Another doctor will do things like promising things to patients and then forgetting, so we have to put up with the patient being frustrated and complaining at us a few days later. Also, there is a process in place whereby if a patient wants their medical records or whatever they have to request it in writing (just a quick Email is enough but we need a written record). Dr Y will just tell them they can have whatever they want, so when they ask us for it and we say they need to make a written request then they complain because of what the doctor has said. But he doesn't care about the process we have to follow! Once a patient got so aggressive I had to threaten him with police, it was dreadful and I felt really shaken.
Yesterday I was dealing with a patient that he had just seen in his room. He put one type of blood test request on the computer system, and then scribbled down a different request on a bit of paper and gave it to the patient. When I phoned through to him to get clarification he shouted back at me and treated me like I am stupid (which I am not!) He didn't even know who I was talking about until I reminded him that the patient literally just left his room.
This doctor also makes weird "jokes" in the office about the patients, things like "they should all be sent to the gallows with no trial!" Or "line em all up against a wall" or "they need 40 lashes! Every one of them!"
I'm fed up of this treatment from the doctors. I may be just a lowly receptionist but we are a vital cog in the whole machine. I have spoken to patients who haven't received the care they need. They say "I don't want to have an appointment with Dr X, he won't listen to me".
I think that if they're overworked and stressed to such an extent then they should retire. I wonder if I should make a complaint, but who to?
Any thoughts?