To report this receptionist?

[Ezlo]

Today I had to call in at my surgery to get blood bags.

I had to queue for a while to get seen to and when I did, the receptionist didn't smile, she didn't apologise for the long wait and then couldn't find on the system why I needed the blood to be taken. Her colleague eventually helped and after more faffing, I got my blood bag. She had a sour face throughout.

There were two other staff members Sat who were only taking prescription requests or arriving people in for their appointments but were mostly sat without any patients.

By that point I had just missed the hourly bus to where the bloods where being taken and had to walk about a mile all up hill whilst severly anaemic.

This is the same clinic where you can only book an appointment by going in to surgery at 8am each weekday or by using the online triage which is accessible from 8am to around 9.15am each weekday. If you work those times then you don't get an appointment. They refuse to give appointments by phone.

Report to who?

you could complain about the poor service?
can’t understand the bus comment, do you have to deliver the blood somewhere yourself? Why couldn’t you wait for the next bus?

If you know how busy it is, you should probably have called a taxi as there was every chance you'd miss the hourly bus.

I wouldn't be reporting people's faces, as that'll make you look insane and a bit nasty.

Some people just look like that when they're under pressure/concentrating.

I had to be in another town for the blood test as they refuse to do bloods at the surgery now and outsourse it to various pharmacies in the area, so you have to get the blood bag from.the surgery and then go to whereever the bloods are being taken. The next bus would've made me too late for my blood appointment.

you cant report her for having a sour face

you are being ridiculous,
you have to take some responsibility

If her colleague had to help her maybe she wasn’t smiling because she was stressed about her job. It probably had nothing to do with you. And she couldn’t have known about the bus so you can’t really blame her for that.

Was there a reason why you could not get a cab to where you needed to go?

No. You'll sound ridiculous.

Mind you, the whole system sounds ridiculous but reporting the receptionist for having a sour face won't make any difference. Who would you report her to?

For what?

No I wouldn't report her.

It sounds like it must have been very busy as you queued for a while. She was probably stressed and rushed off her feet. Doesn't sound like you had a brilliant experience but not smiling or apologising for the wait is not complaint worthy imo.
.

You can give feedback to your local Healthwatch, either online or via email

I don't think you are actually being unreasonable. And I think you should complain that she was rude and inefficient. But you also should complain about a system that requires you to attend two different health centres for a very routine procedure.

I don't see anything negative in her actions. She isn't commercial customer service.

Nobody owes people a fake smile and cheery disposition. She did her job.

Your schedule and bus issue isn't in her control. She isn't in control of how many people come for service at the same time.

I am always stressed and busy at work but as I work in a customer facing role with vulnerable, anxious and scared people part of my role is putting a smile on my face, being kind and reassuring. It is an essential skill for my job and it should be for medical receptionists. If they can't handle stress whilst also carrying out their basic duties and also providing an appropriate service they should not be working at a doctor's surgery.

She works in a poorly managed environment and probably is miserable, having to.be the face for such a badly organised outfit.

If I were to complain, it would be to the practice manager about their appalling attitude towards the sick people who pay their wages.

There were two other staff members Sat who were only taking prescription requests or arriving people in for their appointments but were mostly sat without any patients.

That system sounds more worthy of complaining about imo. The surgery sounds like they need bringing into the 21st Century. They should have a screen where people can register their presence themselves, and the prescription request should be done on e consult, or a form popped into a box, for that purpose.

Could you not have gone for the bag earlier? It sounds like you didn’t allow any wiggle room in your schedule and therefore missed the bus .

The system itself sounds farcical.

OMG what a fucking shit show!!! You poor thing.

I'd report to the local PALS - your surgery will be part of an ICB or a CCG or something like that - used to be a health authority, then PCTs. There'll be a new name for it next year (I'm not even kidding).

PALS stands for Patient ?Advisory? Liason ?Service? of some such rubbish. Anyway send complaints there, but as a previous poster suggested, reporting someone's resting bitch face isn't a great idea, but certainly you can comment on their attitude and inability to function efficiently.

This place sounds similar to my sister’s GP. Poorly run, no system in place and soured faced receptionists.

If you complain about the receptionist, you are letting whoever designed this system off the hook. Surely labelling information can be transferred between the two places without you carrying bags around?

Put it this way - the current system is difficult for patients with chronic health issues, especially anything affecting mobility. It is putting pressure on receptionists too.

I wouldn't necessarily complain as such, but I would give feedback to say public transport links between the places in question are poor, the surgery is obviously under pressure producing these bags and hoc, and you'd hope they might be able to find a more efficient and accessible solution (while understanding the pressures they face).

The whole experience sounds stressful, and with that I sympathise, but you seem to have taken the most issue with how this receptionist has arranged her face. Sounds like she was concentrating and you're already complaining about being held up and maybe she was trying to get you through as quickly as possible.

Sounds like they're being screwed over by the system as well, and she doesn't know nor is responsible for your travel arrangements, and if the system is that disjointed, and she needs a colleague to help find what's needed then that points to either a new member of staff still learning or a shit system - which she's also not responsible for.

Tbh sounds like you've made her and her face the scapegoat for the entire experience, which isn't fair. The experience was shit indeed, so if you must complain then complain about the whole disjointed system that's causing the issues, rather than your perception of someone's face.

I would complain about the system that means you have to go to the surgery before going elsewhere to get blood drawn. Also about the queueing system in the surgery.

That is the problem. It isn't the receptionists fault and she's probably fed up of it too because she probably gets the brunt of people's frustration.

You could be nice, and cut her some slack. She's probably feeling stressed and has stuff going on that she has to deal with as well as a paid job. We've all been there.

I think its fine to complain about the system but I certainly wouldn't complain about the individual. The fact you couldn't get the bus is on you and not the receptionist fault. By any chance when the receptionist was pulling this face was you standing their huffing and puffing. Also people can't really help how their face looks, you said it took quite a while do you know how creepy she would look with a fake smile on her face for that length of time 😁

😂