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

@limitedperiodonly

Self-righteous indignation feels so good. And one can never go wrong when directing their indignation towards the Daily Fucking Fail.

Besides, I was only quoting @browneyes77

Except for the FUCKERS part.

[quote RisingMoon]@limitedperiodonly

Self-righteous indignation feels so good. And one can never go wrong when directing their indignation towards the Daily Fucking Fail.

Besides, I was only quoting @browneyes77

Except for the FUCKERS part.[/quote]
😂😂 absolutely!

I have lots of rage towards any of the Daily Mail journalists that trawl through these threads and share peoples posts. It makes people scared to post their issues, in case they get picked up and published.

So no amount of obscenities will ever be enough for these people!!

@RisingMoon I see. @browneyes77 too then. It just seems out of proportion to me. They weren't doing anything wrong. Only quoting something they found interesting just like you were. Or do you think Mumsnet is a private club or like a priest's confessional?

[quote limitedperiodonly]**@RisingMoon* I see. @browneyes77* too then. It just seems out of proportion to me. They weren't doing anything wrong. Only quoting something they found interesting just like you were. Or do you think Mumsnet is a private club or like a priest's confessional?[/quote]
They’ve been doing this for years and people are sick of it.

And the difference is I quoted things within the same discussion board. I didn’t go publish it in a national newspaper. Bit of a difference.

They join Mumsnet and then lurk on the boards to pick up threads people post and then post them in their newspaper. They don’t ask the person if they’d mind them publishing it, they just post it.

It’s sneaky and it’s wrong in my eyes and in the eyes of many others on here.

If you find that kind of shady, low morals behaviour acceptable, then that’s your choice. Most of us don’t.

But then maybe you’re the journalist who published it….

Thank you for your hard work. I'm just about to start a new role as a GP receptionist (three sites) so good to know your experience

“It’s sneaky and it’s wrong in my eyes and in the eyes of many others on here.”

Yes, but above all, it’s lazy and unreliable. How difficult would it be to actually interview a couple of GP surgery receptionists?
To pick up stuff from an anonymous forum is ludicrous. I just don’t see how anyone can find it acceptable journalism.

@ResurrectionInfinity

“It’s sneaky and it’s wrong in my eyes and in the eyes of many others on here.”

Yes, but above all, it’s lazy and unreliable. How difficult would it be to actually interview a couple of GP surgery receptionists?
To pick up stuff from an anonymous forum is ludicrous. I just don’t see how anyone can find it acceptable journalism.

Precisely!

I've not read through the thread at all but in my experience, GP receptionists are dire when it comes to answering calls from patients with mental health issues and who are in crisis.

I speak from experience this morning: Utterly shameful on the receptionists part and zero fucks given despite me sobbing down the phone to her.

[quote limitedperiodonly]**@RisingMoon* I see. @browneyes77* too then. It just seems out of proportion to me. They weren't doing anything wrong. Only quoting something they found interesting just like you were. Or do you think Mumsnet is a private club or like a priest's confessional?[/quote]
Cunt and FUCKERS isn’t out of proportion for the traditional “slag off the DM” comment.

At least one poster must slag off the Daily Fail for shoddy journalism on a thread that the DM have quoted. It’s a well established tradition.

And I thought that browneyes77’s letter to the DM had a poetic quality to it that was deserving of repetition.

Why thank you @RisingMoon, I do like things to have a poetic ring to them

@Riseholme

I used to work in pathology. I had a lot of contact with many gp surgeries and I could absolutely distinguish the good from the bad by the people answering the calls. Lack of training I think has a lot to answer for.

Bearing in mind I would usually be ringing a surgery because test results were abnormal. Therefore it was important the gp got the results ASAP.
Frequently a receptionist would tell me that I couldn’t ring until after 2 ( that’s when patients can ring).
Or would have no idea how to write down the results accurately.
Would ask me what I wanted them to do!
I have had to firmly reiterate that the receptionists take the results to the duty doctor immediately.

In a well run, happy surgery the receptionist would know to get the results pad, understand my terminology and I would feel confident that the gp would receive the correct information quickly.

Also hospitals go through the same waiting system to get to a receptionist as do patients. I could often sit 5/10 minutes trying to get through.

I too have experienced that. I am a Microbiologist. Sometimes I have to convey some important (yet confidential) result to the person who has requested the test, say HIV TEST result in a sexually active, young person or Syphilis result in a pregnancy screening test results. It gives me shivers when I notice that the request for the test came from a GP surgery. I instantly know the next 20 to 45 minutes of my life is wasted. I clearly tell them that I am ringing from their local NHS pathology lab to convey some life changing result and hence need to speak to A doctor. Still they want to know what is it that I want to convey that can’t be conveyed by the reception. When I read out the result, then they immediately say, “wait, wait, I will call the doctor” …… FFS

@StrictlyAFemaleFemale

Heres a question: if you could change 1 thing about the nhs what would it be and why?

£50 deposit per appointment of which £45 is refundable if you keep up. Let’s face it there is no such thing as a free meal.

Ok, there has been a point made several times on this thread that some customers are just rude.
I have had cases where I’ve stood at the reception only to be ignored until the girl has finished hacking with her colleague about matters which I would like to think that involved the practice, But as I doubt that Robbie Williams was on the drs list or the ever so important pictures of Danni in her dance troupe costume needed to be discussed while the sick waited. I found that quite rude. May explain why people are holding a phone for an hour or so when they needed to make an Enquiry.
Or how a receptionist knows how to cure customers by sending them to the chemist, that must surely mean that no expensive doctor needs to even be there. Strange how the receptionist doesn’t display their certificates on the wall. I could go on about several more things, but I won’t. I’ll just wait for the day that a drs surgery can be fully automated and we can be rid of these utter waste of spaces once and for all.
Please don’t bother with any abuse or replies, after I have had my say there is nothing else to be discussed.

Bold StrictlyAFemaleFemale
Heres a question: if you could change 1 thing about the nhs what would it be and why…..

For me it’s simple, more use of the myGP app and add as much to it as possible. Get anything we put on there looked at by a Dr and THEY and ONLY THEY can decide who is seen and who isn’t.
Receptionists are not needed and certainly do not need to know a patients business.

£50 deposit per appointment of which £45 is refundable if you keep up. Let’s face it there is no such thing as a free meal.

I missed a phone appointment a couple of weeks ago. First time in 60 years.

The call was scheduled for 9 am - 12 noon. The call never came. I received a text message at 4pm saying I had missed the appointment. Nope, I had no missed calls, and certainly none from the GP. I have no number blocks on. Waited in all day, phone on high volume.

I'm now down as a DNA which seems very unfair.

By 4pm I had my head down a toilet being sick anyway so I'm not sure I'd have had much of a conversation. I'm seeing a nurse tomorrow to have some sutures removed so I'll see if I can find out what's going on. The practice often has a 'phone system on the blink' type message on its website though.

It all seems so antiquated. I'll pay for a service but it has to work properly and not stress out patients who are already unwell.

Still they want to know what is it that I want to convey that can’t be conveyed by the reception. When I read out the result, then they immediately say, “wait, wait, I will call the doctor” …… FFS

That is fucking ridiculous and wrong. This system is unbelievable.

You’ve been Lad Bibled OP

@Lemonyfuckit I googled it since I read the replies and it turns out its a whole ongoing issue - hospitals regularly trying to dump aftercare on GPs. GPs have been protesting about it since before the pandemic. It is the hospital's fault, but GPs could communicate a bit better.

I have no beef with the way I'm dealt with by receptionists. But I think that's because I'm a (politely) assertive person who communicates quite precisely. When my daughter left uni and started with and needed a GP other than her uni medical centre she quickly found that it wasn't so easy for her. She's getting better with some training from me!
But it makes me wonder whether there is a whole slice of the population who struggle to get seen because their communication skills aren't top notch. And if so, are receptionists trained to help? I hope so..

It makes me wonder whether there is a whole slice of the population who struggle to get seen because their communication skills aren't top notch

Sorry but that is just not true. You are just lucky with your GP surgery. If you had read some of the stories above, you would realise that.

@Sailorsusan my point is that the surgeries need to train their receptionists better because we're not all able to communicate equally. As evidenced my my DD.

@browneyes77 how is it sneaky to publish freely available material on one of the biggest news websites in the world under your own byline - not mine btw?

If you think it is so wrong why did your post contain someone else's link to Mail Online? It encouraged people to visit the site including one person who helpfully said it was on the front page. Mail Online doesn't have a front page btw. That's not how it works. You continue scrolling until you find what you want to get in a froth at.

People here obviously read the site because otherwise they wouldn't spot things that originally appeared on Mumsnet. I don't understand why those who are angry about that regularly link to it instead of ignoring it. The Mail won't go away but at least you won't drive traffic and therefore revenue their way.

I think it's useful to bring attention to the work of doctors' receptionists and also people's concerns about those receptionists who aren't helpful and other poor experiences in the NHS.

I contributed my positive experiences but after reading other posts I realised I'd forgotten the (few) bad encounters and I got angry on their behalf. I didn't get angry at the Daily Mail but at the people (I still like to believe they are in the minority) who failed in their duty or at a culture or working practices in GP surgeries and the wider NHS which failed to pick this up and eliminate it.

You may not like Mumsnet threads being picked up by Mail Online but it is not illegal or immoral or a surprise. We all know they do it and I am content with that and it seems Mumsnet and many other posters are too. If you are not happy then be circumspect about your posts or don't post at all. That is the advice for all social media and it's what we tell our children.

It strikes me as dog-in-the-manger to want to keep information like this to yourself and people in what you imagine is your own little club of thousands of members and millions of page reads when wider dissemination is more likely to get something done.

There are countless issues debated on Mumsnet from the trivial to the serious that are worthy of a wider audience. The Daily Mail and The Times have been informed by threads on Mumsnet about how some trans issues impact on women's rights. I'm not going to say where I stand on that but how else do you expect journalists to get an idea on this and other things that concern women than from a popular website with a wide range of views mainly coming from women?

That is not lazy journalism as some people on Mumsnet lazily like to say. It is journalism. Some stories, like this thread, are ready to go. Some require further investigation and get it.

@OssomMummy1 and @Riseholme from a patient's point of view I can see your frustration. NHS numbers are withheld for a good reason and responsible staff do not leave detailed voicemails. And results are never given over the phone.

That's a difficulty if you screen your calls and never pick up on Number Withheld but I can't see a way round that especially if you have reason to expect the call.

I sometimes get calls to do with my medical condition and people are always discreet. I imagine you know of some that aren't though. I don't mind receptionists asking basic information about what is wrong with me in order to prioritise but it should only happen over the phone or in a fairly private setting and people should be able to refuse without being penalised or feeling uncomfortable.

Bad things don't happen to me often but I remember the bossy GP receptionist who came into a packed waiting room to tell me: "Pop your tights off dear to save Doctor time. He's very busy."

Everyone looked at me and I wanted to say it was an ingrowing toenail. That was in 1986 and I hope there's been some training since then.

“That is not lazy journalism as some people on Mumsnet lazily like to say. It is journalism. Some stories, like this thread, are ready to go. Some require further investigation and get it.”

It’s not in the least ready to go. These are not interviews or signed letters. It’s a series of uncorroborated anonymous posts.

As for my being lazy, posting on Mumsnet is a leisure activity not a profession. There’s no comparison.

If journalists want to tap into the zeitgeist by reading Mumsnet or any other anonymous site that’s fine, but do some bloody work to back it up so that it can be taken seriously.

@ResurrectionInfinity. None of what you say is necessary for the purposes of this story. It would be for others but not for this one. It is ready to go and saying it's not because that's what you want to believe doesn't make it true.

It's also legitimate to take content from Mumsnet so long as the correct credit has been given.

To address your point about laziness: Do you habitually do things in your job that are unnecessary to the task in hand? We all like to take our time but doing it too much is inefficient. Efficient workers complete tasks to good standards - this woman did and whether you like the result is irrelevant - and then move on. Anything else would make someone think they were easily distracted or wasting time so another colleague had to pick up the slack. No one likes an inefficient or lazy colleague whatever job they do.

I'm not saying it's lazy of you to post on Mumsnet. I do it. We're doing it now because we both have free time in our busy days. It's not the same as doing our jobs.

But it is lazy for someone to accuse someone who is doing her job adequately of being lazy without any valid evidence.

Some people would say that talking about things you don't know about is ignorant. I wouldn't dream of telling someone how to do their job. That's what makes listening to a doctor's receptionist about hers is interesting to me and others and creates a talking point.

As I said to @browneyes77 I think this is useful information and explained why it should be shared with a wider audience. I have no problem with my quotes being used. You might disagree. That is your prerogative.