I’m a GP receptionist and prepared to be honest about my job.

[TwistedSisterUK]

Hi all, as title says, I’m a Gp receptionist. After reading all the irate, insulting, rude and misinformed threads on here I have made this account!

Please feel free to ask me anything and I promise to answer honestly, even though my opinions and thoughts are likely to make me very unpopular here. I’m prepared for it , having read dozens of previous threads where we are called lazy, rude, power mad, bitches and more…..

I have done this job for 12 years, it’s hard work but can be at times extremely rewarding . I work with a great team. My opinions are only about my job, my day to day dealing at the surgery I work in.

First of all, to the ppl who think we just answer phones and ask patients to please take a seat - I wish!! Lol.

I deal with chemists, pharmacists,hospital secretaries, emails, post, 100s of clinical letters and test reports, arrange all referrals, do all test requests, type all clinicians letters, new patient files are refilled, files from patients leaving must be found and returned, clinical letters received are scanned , coded and actioned, translators requests, letters to be typed up and patients to be called to arrange reviews, Imms,smears etc, the loaning out of medical equipment - there’s lots more but hopefully you are getting the idea that my job involves far more than answering the odd call.

So, the bits you, the patients see and hear are a small bit of my job.

I have to go out today but will be happy to answer any questions any of you may have but I’ll start the ball rolling here about the “ magically appearing appointments “.

I read a lot of complaints here that you call and there are no appointments….then….lo and behold,….after more conversation an appointment is found! This is because I can put it down as an urgent call. If it is NOT an urgent call I will be reprimanded by my manager and if this continues I would possibly lose my job.

I am simply not allowed to continually add more and more patients to be added as “ extras” They are called extras as there genuinely are no appointments left.

When I return I’ll move on to the why we ask the reason for your call! Please be assured I do not think myself in anyway medically trained nor do I even like asking - I have to ask - it’s my job.

I promise any questions or comments will be answered in all honesty! I’m wearing my hard hat…..lol

Gp nurse here. Completely understand why people don’t want to tell receptionist reason for their appt but there is a genuine reason.
Let’s say Mrs p calls to book an appt. Doesn’t want to say why. Has Gp appt to discuss suspicious mole. Dr is not the Gp who specialises in dermatology so advises or they need to make appt with dermo Gp. Waste of time for pt and Dr.

Perhaps pt happy to give vague reason like previous poster and perhaps just say a gynae reason. Has appt with Gp. Wants a ring pessary fitted. Dr says sorry wallawalla is our pessary fitter so we need to make an appt with her. Again a waste for Gp and pt. Pt is frustrated as having to wait not only for first appt but then for 2nd appt. Had pt said reason for appt in the first instance it would have been booked with the appropriate person.

Gp receptionists really are not asking because they are desperate to know if Mr H has piles or Mrs P has thrush.

Yes, same here lol I understand ppl get frustrated and it’s all part and parcel of the job! ( Plus, biscuits or wine are always welcome! )

I love the team of receptionists at my local surgery. I write them a joint Christmas card every year. They are so patient, resourceful, think outside the box, empathetic, and they make their job look so easy.

When I get an appointment it's fine. The difficulty is in getting an appointment. If I could afford to be on the phone between 8.30 and 9 on a weekday it's possible that I could get an appointment. The wait time and the system once I speak to someone is a big challenge though.

The things I'd like to discuss with my GP now are- the particular statin I'm taking, HRT or weaning myself off it, insomnia and warts on my feet. I've had most of these issues for at least 6 months now but I just keep getting repeat prescriptions because it is so unbelievably bloody difficult to get an appointment. I had a phone call to discuss how to wean myself off HRT about 6 months ago where I was essentially told to go and read up on it so I realised I'd have to bring in my own schedule. There is no easy way to talk to a qualified medical professional since covid came along. ( Other than in an emergency when you end up in A &E.)

My GP's receptionists are fine but the overall service is shocking.

@UmbilicusProfundus

Your GPs should be using autotranscription software. Waste of time to be typing letters surely?

Hahahaha I am a med sec in a specialty trust hospital and we still type all our letters!

browneyes77

Good question and one I cannot answer! You are right….nobody books online anymore, it hasn’t been bought back at my surgery yet either.

I’ll ask practice manager at next shift - you do the same! It was very convenient for many patients I agree. ( and less calls for me to take! )

Does your reception area have a computer system to book in on?

Dear OP, you speak for yourself when you say you do your best as a GP's Receptionist. But I can't accept " Oh the last 2 years have been hard, Covid" seriously. Problems were exactly the same long before then, booking an appointment went from hard to impossible. The phone would ring & ring & almost never be picked up, or be picked up to be disconnected. We, patients were only allowed to call Mon - Weds between 8am - 12pm(?) to make appointments-- horrifically inconvenient for anyone who works/studies in any way at all, let alone whilst being distracted by being tired, sick, confused or in lots of pain. There was always unwarranted hostile behaviour, passive aggressive timewasting from a particular receptionist- whether it was the death glare, or telling me to put a mask on my face when I was literally wearing one, or the irony that I & other patients would desperately call and never get the phone answered at our neediest but when the receptionist thought my new address needed verifying, they called me and asked me to hand deliver proof of address while I'm pregnant & still at work. No priority to care/empathy. They won't make effort to book you in when you're very sick, but want you to waste time when you're in a medically vulnerable state & busy for the sake of bureacracy..I told this receptionist I can't come in with proof of address and big surprise, I was curtly told "then email it" and abruptly hung up on. This is where phrases like 'power mad' come in, as it's seen the woman deliberately likes wasting time, nit picking & aggravating people. In any other business, waiting an extensive time and qeueing is expected or accepted as necessary.. but for a GP people aren't qeueing & waiting for Mcnuggets & Fries, they can't typically go off to Five Guys instead & be fine.., when they have to wait too long or in poor conditions, they suffer... they get worse, their illness or quality of life can deteriorate,,, sometimes irreversibly, they can lose their jobs, or face hardship that's avoidable- in the worst cases they even die. In all of this because it is apparently,, that hard to book a GP appointment, they could/should create a DIY, help yourself online booking system accessible to all patients via network, not rely on 1 crummy landline and 2 (slow?) pc's between 4 receptionists that only opens Mon - Weds mornings. .. but would they do this, and help themselves, and everyone else?- No. The more useless, antiquated and aggravating the service, such as bespoke hand delivery of documents by unwell people, or people with conditions (when it turns out a simple email will do??) the better, apparently...

My GP practice currently refuses to see any patients face to face.

The receptionists will only accept calls to leave a message for a doctor to call you back if you call between 8.30 and 9.00.

If you get through at all in that half hour slot (and there's no guarantee you will) you may get told all call backs for the day have been allocated unless it's an emergency (and goodness knows who decides what is an emergency)

My husband spent 4 days trying to speak to someone about serious and worrying side effects from a new medicine. The practice finally responded to an email sent on his firm's email account -he is a solicitor- advising that he would hold them liable for damages if his health suffered due to their failure to respond.

So I'd like to know - what are they doing all day?.

MsCapri

I agree! ( May I add that I have never said the last two years have been hard due to covid? I’ve done this year 12 years and it’s always been busy/hectic )

I agree with all you have said - it is not an ideal situation ( by far )

Until money is thrown at it I don’t know how changes can be made.

I am just doing the best I can in this current situation.

To Endoftether2000

Computer system to book in at reception?

No….we use the old fashioned come to the desk method!

I'm 4 weeks into being a GP receptionist. I'll tell you it was an absolute eye-opener all the stuff we have to do!!! I'm still to be let loose on the phones but have been listening into calls during my training. You soon realise when your on hold for what seems like an eternity. Just remember the people in the queue in front of you could be an absolute wreck as they are informing the practice that their spouse of 50 years has died. They then start reminiscing and the call can be 15 minutes long. You do not want to rush calls like that. Another person may have just been diagnosed with cancer and is ringing from the toilet at work in tears ringing for blood tests results and asking about letters between the gp and consultants. Honestly I think I'm going to love this job as I love helping people but GP receptionist never stop!!! And 8 hour shift flies by as you are so busy. Next time you're in that queue just try to be patient and think about why other people could be ringing. We will answer your call as soon as we possibly can

@BattenbergdowntheHatches

The problem with that *@gemdotcom* is that it makes GP appointments inaccessible for people with a job. It's tricky enough with a desk job - very hard to guarantee that you won't be on a call/in a meeting/popped into discuss something with a colleague during a massive slug of time. like that. And they're the lucky ones - bus drivers, checkout staff and teachers have no chance!

I know we're told this system is here to stay, but it's absolutely for the benefit of GP's/practices and has been introduced with zero thought to patients' needs. Not everything requiring a GP needs you to be off work - far from it.

That's an excellent point. I work full-time but I'm in a job and a position of seniority where I can phone the gp, leave the phone beside me and carry on working until it's answered.

@EarlyModernEnglish

I’ve never come across rude receptionists, and I think it is unfair to blame them for the massive inadequacies in the NHS.

Seeing a doctor is, though, a monumental ball ache if you have a job. My heart sinks if one of us develops a symptom that looks like it will need medical care, I’ll try anything (Google, natural remedies, asking on Mumsnet etc) before I start wading into the horrors of the surgery’s phone/online systems. It’s not the receptionist’s fault though, is it? Everything in the NHS moves at a glacial speed and the reasons for that are presumably funding-related…

I guess my question is: if you rely on a call back system like my surgery (i.e. you submit your concern and a dr/nurse phones back anything up to 48 hours later), do you just expect people to be able to answer the phone whenever the call is?

I'm not the OP but I'm also a GP receptionist, and as I'm quite new and don't know the patients well yet, I have absolutely no idea if some of them work or not. I call once if I have been asked to, then check if the patient has consented to voicemails being left, even if they have I never say what I'm calling about, just that I'm phoning from the surgery and asking them to call back.

I don't know if this will help you at all, but receptionists are able to make 'alerts' on a patients record so that anyone who accesses the record in the surgery (receptionists, doctors and nurses etc) can see them. Patients have asked me many times if we can make a note to call them after a certain time or on certain days, it takes two seconds to do it and personally I'm grateful to know as it makes things a lot more efficient when trying to arrange appointments etc

Elderly people really struggle with the stupid systems in place. I now have to call my mother’s GP practice for her as she can’t deal with the endless questions, hanging in the line, then waiting around all day for the GP to call her back to see if she needs a face to face appointment.

I’ve started ordering my own medication online and for my OH. Under the repeat prescription heading. It’s never questioned. Absolutely ridiculous.

Surely not all receptionists are the same, there was tons of complaints at our local GP surgery at one point, I am sure it was the same receptionist who hang up the phone, being less than helpful to everyone. Almost impossible to get anything done over the phone, you pretty much have to turn up physically just to make an appointment or make any query (hopefully someone else at the desk can help). Everything was good again as soon as this person left.

@TroysMammy

I told them groin injury and it wasn’t enough detail apparently.

Anyway my point was, people don’t want to talk about their shit at the reception desk. In my situation I thought my knob was irreparably damaged. That’s a hell of a thing for a 21 year old to have to skirt around talking about at the front of the surgery. I thought I might cry. True story.

Hi OP not my doctors but one in a nearby area. Staff other than Doctors guessing approximately 7 or 8. Patients arrive no body sees them at the reception desk. The elderly who are not IT savvy have to book in that they are there in the waiting room. No assistance unless another patient from the waiting room offers assistance. Like others on here you have to call between 8.30am and 9.00am to get an appointment. Generally your are advised with no consultation to go to A and E. You go to A and E. A and E ask why you have not been referred by your doctor. Out of interest how many calls are taken weekly.

In our small market town practice it averages out around 180 calls answered a day!

I get infuriated by some of the comments made about GP receptionists.

My mum has been spat at, had someone deliberately try to get their HIV infected blood in her face, threatened with a knife, had someone try to drive into the building with their car with her in it and gets abused by patients verbally on a daily basis.

Staff are overworked, underpaid and understaffed and are tasked with delivering unpopular policies.

Yet, my mum still spends time listening to everyone, sitting with scared toddlers when their mums are having mental health crisises in the surgery, picking prescriptions and delivering them to patients who can’t do it themselves (unpaid) and cried when she got Covid, because it meant yet one more staff member down when the surgery reception was on its knees.

Respect to all Surgery staff dealing with utter shit every day on paltry band 2/3 wages.

@Riverlee , my surgery apparently don't bother with this even though I always make a point of giving my date of birth when making appointments. It got so bad that I started asking the doctor to confirm he was looking at the correct notes at the beginning of each appointment, but I was accused of being aggressive for doing that. Have asked to speak to practice manager but told they are too busy.

I guess my only option is to change to another practice but not sure I will be able to find one to take me on as they all have full lists.

You say you are a GP receptionist but you seem to be doing a lot of medical secretary stuff? Referral letters etc. How does that work? I'm a med sec and our receptionists can't do those as well; they would self-combust!

I’ve done this job. Enjoyed and hated it in equal measure. Worked in 3 different practices and none of them worked in the same way. I’ve worked in admin roles for 30 years and these were the busiest and most stressful by far. All for £9.50 an hour (and that’s the norm, believe me). I admire those who do it but there are plenty ‘bad’ ones who shouldn’t be allowed to continue.

@sassyannie

You say you are a GP receptionist but you seem to be doing a lot of medical secretary stuff? Referral letters etc. How does that work? I'm a med sec and our receptionists can't do those as well; they would self-combust!

I did wonder about this too. None of the surgeries I worked in had the receptionist typing letters and doing secretarial stuff. There’s a clear separation of roles. Does your practice not have a medical secretary?

@31flavours why would a Receptionist need more detail? Over the phone I ask "would you like to give me a brief idea what's the problem?" If a gentleman then proceeds to say e.g. " I've got a lump on my testicles and when I lift my scrotum you can see it and it's uncomfortable" then I just add that information on for the GP to read.

If someone wants to talk on the Reception Desk which is a public area, we have a microphone as I'm hearing impaired, I say "just to let you know what you want to discuss here may not be as confidential as it is over the phone". It's up to the patient if they want to proceed.

@Bigoldhag

I get infuriated by some of the comments made about GP receptionists.

My mum has been spat at, had someone deliberately try to get their HIV infected blood in her face, threatened with a knife, had someone try to drive into the building with their car with her in it and gets abused by patients verbally on a daily basis.

Staff are overworked, underpaid and understaffed and are tasked with delivering unpopular policies.

Yet, my mum still spends time listening to everyone, sitting with scared toddlers when their mums are having mental health crisises in the surgery, picking prescriptions and delivering them to patients who can’t do it themselves (unpaid) and cried when she got Covid, because it meant yet one more staff member down when the surgery reception was on its knees.

Respect to all Surgery staff dealing with utter shit every day on paltry band 2/3 wages.

My GP's practice is doing everything possible to avoid seeing patients. The practice has a really silly design- all the waiting area is glass floor to ceiling. I pass it every morning- there's never anyone there.