To not what the GP receptionist to loudly proclaim that I'm overdue for a smear test in the waiting room?

[nahhh88]

I went into the GP surgery for a completely unrelated manner, and when the GP receptionist pulled up my profile she said I'm overdue for my smear test, and did I want to book in for the smear test. I just said I'll book it another time and tried to get her to stop talking. I've never had a smear test as I'm a virgin and had the HPV vaccines as a teenager, and I have no intention of having one done any time soon.

I felt really embarrassed knowing everyone in the waiting room will have heard (the chairs are all very close to the reception desk, there's no privacy so you end up knowing everyone's private medical details said aloud for everyone to hear. As I walked out this old man made eye contact with me and I just felt really embarrassed by it.

AIBU to think GP receptions need to have more privacy and things handled more quietly and sensitively?

Why is everyone saying the receptionist shouted out OP's medical information. She just informed her that a smear test is due, she didn't make a song and dance about it. Smears are good to do even if you are a virgin, you can still develop cervical cancer and one way to find out is to do a Pap smear test. It's just a regular test women should do along with mammograms. Having them done doesn't tell anyone anything about your medical history other than that you are a grown woman but they can probably see that already.

Many posters are referring to embarrassment as if it describes a concrete, objectively perceivable thing. It's a subjective emotion. One cannot say, "That is not embarrassing", only, "That does not embarrass me".

The op was embarrassed.

Bloody hell, the amount of obtuse duncebats on this thread!
The point isn't that the OP was embarrassed....that was just an outcome of the fact that the receptionist was less than discreet about the OP's medical status!
Women falling over themselves to gaslight the OP just because they see the words " smear test", " virgin" and " embarrassed" , whilst ignoring the words " shouting" and " receptionist" is not cool.
And virgins who have the HPV vaccine do not ordinarily have to have smear tests, either.
So please stop associating the OP's virginal status with having the right to think that she is some cloistered woman who needs patronising by us non virgins who obviously must be more worldly because of our non virginal status.
The misogyny is off the charts on this thread.
OP. Write to the practice manager about this woman's lack of inside voice.

The receptionist at our surgery used to ask people to confirm their DOB. I'm not sure why name and address won't suffice. It was done in a very public area and frankly was insensitive, not everyone wants to declare their age like that. Fortunately, there's now a machine to check in and it works on name plus day/month of birthday. Same applies to any medical conditions - it's personal, keep your voice down!

It was inappropriate. Private medical information should not be shared publicly. Plus, it is a sensitive topic for a lot of women who find the test difficult following traumatic experiences such as sexual abuse. And, for lots of other reasons. I’m just imagining how it would feel for someone in that situation, someone who is a trans man, someone who struggles with the test because of prior bad experiences with cervical screening (and there are plenty of threads dedicated to that topic on here!) etc. to be doorstepped in this way in front of a room of people. It needs to be a sensitive conversation with the GP, who can offer support if desired. Women are already reminded in multiple ways - letter, sometimes texts, there are often posters up all over the surgery, and GPs will also remind women that they have been invited. That should suffice.

Your medical record and personal details are private. No matter what they are, irrelevant what you're embarrassed about or not, they should not be being shared in a public place.

Personal privacy, dignity, safety all matter and come under data protection.

The anti germ screen at our doctors (where reception is the waiting room) made it difficult for anyone to hear anything so I had the great pleasure of having to repeat 'POST MENOPAUSE BLEEDING' several times.

Still, walking in to book an appointment is the easiest way - The alternative is waiting 40 minutes on the phone to get through.

They could supply cards and pens and the patient could write down their details and need while queueing.

A minority of cervical cancers are not HPV related, and HPV can be passed on through prolonged non sexual skin to skin contact or through childbirth for example.

No, the OP is not being ridiculous. Our GP practice has the reception desk and several staff answering phone calls attached to the waiting area. We can hear everything being said to and by patients at the desk and also what is being said to patients on the phone.

There is no privacy at all.

I would not expect a male patient to be told in front of other patients that he was overdue for his prostate blood test, either.

They have changed the way they do smear tests these days - they test for HPV, if it is NOT present they scrap the sample and thats that. No Sex means no HPV especially with vaccine so her assumptions regarding whether she needs the test are correct in my view

I've skimmed a bit but quite a few posters seem to be saying that the OP was silly to be embarrassed and that no one in the waiting room would have cared, but
As I walked out this old man made eye contact with me and I just felt really embarrassed by it.

This! There's absolutely nothing wrong or embarrassing about a smear test, that's true, but its the dirty old man evesdropping and catching her eye that has given her the heebie jeebies.

Discretion and confidentiality is important, particularly with medical information.

I hope you do get your smear test OP and don't let some old perve put you off.

Exactly this.

Before I eventually got myself off the system of reminders, I was told I'm overdue regularly. Which meant I had to then remind then that I'd had cervical cancer and radiotherapy which meant any smear tests would be invalid so I'm not supposed to have one. AND still the receptionists wouldn't believe me.

I just love having that conversation in front of a waiting room.

Confidentiality is just that - confidential. There's no different tiers depending on how precious you are. Receptionist should NEVER say anything like this. They should turn the screen and show you or have a system that sends alerts automatically.

I had similar 40 years ago. Receptionist was haranguing me to book a smear.

I was telling her I didn't require one and she kept trying to tell me otherwise. I didn't really think that I should need to say any more...I mean at the age of 20 and shy I didn't want to say "I'm a virgin!" to a complete stranger in a public place.

Agree with this.

YANBU OP.

"Dirty old man"
His crime: sitting in a GP surgery waiting room.

Thanks for saying this.

40+ yrs ago, I had a very similar experience. Told the receptionist I didn't need a smear test and she kept arguing with me that everyone needed one. As a shy 20 yr old, I didn't want to say "I'm a virgin!" to a stranger in front of a queue of folk waiting at the desk.

ISTR saying "Look...I know that I don't need one!" and leaving.

What an embarrassingly stupid post 🤦‍♀️

No sex doesn't mean no HPV. And no HPV doesn't mean no risk of cervical cancer. Low risk, not no risk.
Practice nurse.

A smear test is nothing to be embarrassed about and should be a completely normalised thing.

Well OP you said yourself, the chairs in the waiting area are close to the reception area and so anyone could have overheard. No mention of shouting.

Receptionists probably get used to speaking loudly to accommodate older, deaf patients like me.

To them, it’s the same as any other routine medical appointment, and there really is no need to feel any embarrassment.

Wait until your practice introduces the online "Klinic" triage system.

You'll spend over half an hour online working through pages and pages of symptoms, plus a free text box to fill in to state why you are requesting an appointment, and another box to fill in about what your "needs and expectations" from this appointment are, plus contact details, plus boxes to fill in about your smoking, drinking habits etc. Every single time you require an appointment. It's a dreadful system.

Your request is then triaged by a clinician, nurse or by admin staff, with the help of algorithms for potential differential diagnoses and clinical red flags and on the basis of their triaging, you are later in the day (or sometimes three days later) sent a text for a face 2 face or telephone appointment for the same day, for the following week or the week after that. If you are being given a phone appointment, it can be any time between 8.00am to 2.00pm, so you need to be available for much of the day to take the call. Those without online access can still phone to request an appointment, but the call handlers take callers through the same forms as the online system.

No that wouldn't bother me. If I had some kind of sensitive disease and she shouted that would be different...I.E 'I've got these for your chlamydia.' but everyone has smears. No biggie.

GP practices receive additional funding for carrying out cervical screening tests, through QOF payments. So yes, it's one of the tests that they are incentivised to chase up patients for.

@cptartapp I was aware you can get cervical cancer without HPV (which is why it’s such a shame they no longer test cells for all patients) but didn’t realise you could contract HPV in other ways. Thanks!

The status of up to date or not is a private medical matter.

Hardly...