GP receptionist - report or let it go?

[6079SmithW]

I’ve just come off the phone with the GP surgery.
I had an appointment today which due escalating problems at work I needed to move to next week. It’s for a timed (28 days) injection so it’s really not convenient to move it as I will be outside of treatment for a week, but I didn’t feel I had any choice.
(Full disclosure - I also had to ring them yesterday because I had written the appointment down on different days in two different diaries).
After changing the appointment, and presumably after she thought the call was disconnected, the receptionist said (to person unknown) “She’s a right bloody nuisance ‘6079SmithW’ with her bloody injection”, then realised and hung up.
I rang the surgery back and told her that I had her comment and she apologised. I explained that I would love to be able to drop everything and just attend but that as I work full time, I have to balance priorities. She said “Well we struggle for appointments so it’s just a good job we could for you in”. I felt that the apology wasn’t genuine and she was just trying to justify herself.
I appreciate that we’re all busy and we all have work stress etc. but AIBU to think that a GP receptionist shouldn’t be slagging off patients (within earshot of god knows who)? Furthermore would you report her or just let it go? My inclination is to leave it there, but I feel like she hasn’t taken the incident seriously and probably just slagged me off a bit more once she got off the second call !

Leave it. That's awful but I think being told in no uncertain terms that you heard it should be punishment enough! I'm still cringing about the tone of voice I used when I thought someone was on hold about 10 years ago (nothing as rude as yours).

Let it go. Regardless of whether you think it was genuine or not, you got an apology. What do you want to achieve by taking it further other than a cryptic note on your records denoting “pain in the arse”?

I'm usually the first to complain about inappropriate/rude behaviour from GP receptionists/hospital admin but to be fair they moved the appointment for you and in the kindest way possible you do sound a bit disorganised.

I'd let this one go.

You're so naive if you think you don't get slagged off as a customer or even a patient. I would leave it. As if you've never moaned about someone ever in your life..?!

I expect they are fed up of people cancelling or not turning up. Our local surgery had 170 no shows last month and yet other people can’t get appointments. I think you were lucky they rearranged it for you. They should really be cancellation charges for appointments like there are at the dentists.

Going against the grain I'd pop a polite email to the practice manager. Explain what you have here that you have already spoken to the receptionist concerned but wanted to flag this up for their attention.

With sympathy, you probably have been a bit of a nuisance to them. She could have said something horrible, but she didn't really.

Make a verbatim note in yr diary. Time and date etc.
IF you get attitude from any of them ever again, you could get in touch with the Practice Manager for a chat. Maybe his/her staff are unhappy people in which case they should get out of the game.

Many years ago I worked in a surgery. We did not slag off patients, at all, ever, whatever our private feelings.
I’ve also worked in an Operations Centre & speaking badly about customers was stamped on very quickly.
Leadership comes from the top. Slagging off patients or customers drags everyone’s spirits down.

It is a nuisance though that they had to move things around and you r lucky they were able to fit you in...she apologised that you heard but it is likely she is not sorry for what she said.

It's rude but I'd let it go. It does sound like you've mucked them about a bit. It wasn't the most professional but calling you a nuisance is quite mild in the grand scheme of things. I've heard people called much worse things with the mic muted in my years working in call centres for healthcare companies.

During lockdown I was once on a call with another professional, I politely asked if I could call her back as I had a sudden issue to deal with at home. I then proceeded to run around the lounge telling the two massive blue bottles to "fuck off out my house you filthy annoying little cunts!"

She was still on hold 😁

I worked in a call centre and we all moaned about horrid or annoying callers, if caught by managers we get told it's unprofessional. I

Two colleagues are allowed to complain about their job to each other. It's normal. It's a shame you heard, and I've no doubt she will never forget it, she will be mortified. But it won't change the fact that she is frustrated by you - she's human, she's allowed to get frustrated at things.

What do you honestly want the outcome of your complaint to be? I used to manage a complaints department and we had a standard letter ' thank you bringing this to our attention, your comments have been noted, this does not reflect our normal high standard of customer service, further training will be implemented' blah blah blah ... (throw in a Gift Voucher if the complaint was really serious) the sad reality is that we all have bad days, off moments and can get frustrated. No, of course it's not professional but we are all human ... in fact the alternative would be to only use robots and fully automated systems for making bookings, enquiries etc which we all know is probably coming in the future but is totally unsatisfactory.

Let it go.

Just leave it, she’s a human being. Have you never vented about anyone behind their back? We’ve all done it, she was just unlucky getting caught.

I'd let it go, she's probably cringing that you heard her and called back

I guarantee she'll double check the phones disconnected before doing that again

Of course it’s awful of her but you cancelled last minute, which is always frustrating when there are people who cannot get an appointment and so it’s quite common to vent amongst your colleagues.

I’m glad you said something as it is unprofessional but I wouldn’t escalate it.

I don't really think there's much to be gained by complaining further. Every single person who works with the public occasionally moans about them. She fucked up by not hanging up properly, and she apologised (even if you didn't think it was grovelling enough) so I'd just move on. I guarantee you that she's mortified and will learn from this.

^ This

I mean, what outcome would you like? I would hate to be a receptionist. They filter so much shit for the G.P. I witnessed one getting a huge telling off- for something I asked. G.P then came and sweetly spoke to me…. Whilst I had just hear her rip the receptionist a new one. Terrible.

I would let it go. You got your apology. To be fair she didn't really say anything. untrue. At the moment you have probably contacted the surgery three times about one simple appointment. Imagine if everyone did. Also cancelling appointments on the day is frustrating. Hopefully she will be more mindful of what she says but I don't think you really are going to get anywhere

I had something similar it was actually the practice manager who didn't put the phone down and left a 5 minute rant on my answerphone slagging me off. I did speak to the gp about it and she ended up with a written warning and she apologised. They asked if I wanted to take the complaint further but I said I felt it was dealt with appropriately and didn't need to be dealt with outside the surgery. I did actually feel a bit for her as I do genuinely feel like it is something we have all done to an extent when dealing with the general public. Hopefully calling her back and explaining you heard will be enough for her to be more mindful in the future. However if you feel more needs to be said speak to the practice manager and go from there.

No I wouldn't. Not nice but could have said worse!