GP receptionists?

[cherrypied]

They are called care navigators.

I’m so poorly and fed up but they seem to want to do everything tiny to not give me a an appointment with a GP.

Is this part of their training?

I think you've misread what I wrote, I wasn't slagging off GP receptionists

OFCOM estimates that 5% of the UK doesn’t have home internet access. That doesn’t include people who have limited phone data packages who may not be able to afford extra data if they run out so only have partial access. If you are sick, you can’t just pop to the library to use the internet to get a GP appointment 🙄

OFCOM digital disadvantage

Add to that all those who struggle to navigate the internet successfully because of disabilities, learning difficulties or illiteracy, or age. 1 in 3 over 65s lack the skills required to use the internet successfully.

Age UK survey

Now consider which groups are more likely to have health issues. How about the elderly, disabled and those living in poverty?

As for GP receptionists, their job is a non clinical role, they shouldn’t be taking on clinical tasks like triage. They aren’t qualified. Some surgeries have triage software, they may have sent their receptionists on a short training course or given them in house training but the reality is patients aren’t great at giving the relevant information (especially if they aren’t comfortable discussing it with a non medical professional) and receptionists lack the knowledge and experience to know what questions to ask. It is not fair on the patients or the receptionists or entirely safe to give them that responsibility, certainly not without the support of triage software.

The GP receptionists at my surgery are lovely. They have changed the team, the prescription line is also amazing, and really efficient. I can't imagine it is easy for them, given the abuse they'll tolerate on a daily basis from disgruntled patients.
I'm please they got rid of one of the awkward ones, as she reduced me to tears once, and would sit on prescription requests for weeks. Since she is no longer there, it's been great.

Do they have telephone appointments, and an econsult system at your gp surgery?

It’s this kind of shit that is driving me to the brink!

plus also no information from surgery regarding any of this.

I called at 8.30am and would have to wait until 7pm for the surgery to close.

This is insane that 111 can override appointments at the surgery!

OP, if you voted Tory at any time in the last 20 years or did not vote, you have contributed to the problem.

I think it is a vicious cycle that is not easy to break. People calling when they are ill are probably on the whole even more rude than they are normally say to shop workers, bad receptionists exist, the system for the mass phoning at 8am is awful, and there are many people whose ill health is self inflicted.

Yup, no information to us and clearly no information to the admin staff either!

The online system at my surgery is admin - not medically trained to triage- and all urgent health queries go to the urgent care team and they decide. This can only be done at 8am or online.

The BM said they are changing it to system connect later in the year which is an online triage system.

I just feel very poorly and like I’m a rude, nuisance (I am not) rather than a patient who needs to care. I’m also quite shocked at how some of the nurse practitioners have spoken to me this year.

I’m a full time working person it’s a face to face role that I cannot leave or call at 8am. Well I can call at 8am just can’t still be on the phone at 8.45.

By the time I get an appointment I’m now feeling pretty anxious about it!

Thankfully I am not seriously ill. But I am unwell and need help.

My next challenge is a sick note!

I saw the GP on Friday who agreed for me to self cert off work and come back in a week for more assessment and a sick note if I need it.

I've also not had bad experience with our GP receptionist. Even if ive rang for triage and they've asked if its urgent, I have told them I work and this is the only time I can come, not that its necessarily urgent. They have then added me to the list.

Hmm
I changed GP practices about two years ago.

The receptionists at the original practice were obstructive and about half of them were extremely rude and dismissive. The practice made a number of errors: not submitting a referral, prescriptions that were not done, done in error or sent to the wrong place. On one occasion I even received the paperwork relating to another patient's diagnosis and containing all their personal details. The cherry on the cake was when they sent me a fit note signing me off work for two weeks for "surgical recovery". I hadn't had surgery! Someone else had the same dob as me and the fit note was sent in error.

This was a very big practice, 34,000 patients, that had gobbled up the little local practices when the GPs retired. Their operations had not caught up with their size. There were one or two excellent partners, sadly two or three who were not excellent, didn't care and were arrogant/rude to boot. Some of the salaried drs were OK, some were not. The practice was badly run and this impacted on the attitudes and performance of the suppprt/admin staff. It was truly horrendous. I'll also add that about half the partners were involved with lucrative external medico/business interests - directors of private groups, skincare providers and three of the partners also did private GP work through our local private hospitals. I do not think their patients were their priority.

I have since changed to a smaller practice with 8000 patients. The receptionists are polite and helpful. The doctors are polite and helpful. Appointments are available and any on-line requests are promptly and helpfully dealt with. It is honestly like a different world.

It seems to vary and it might be worth changing practices. It is notable that not all practices pay their receptionists NMW - some pay a little more.

Wow

makes my experience like the hunger games

I don’t think I can change as I am not in the catchment for the other surgery.

They might take you as an out of catchment patient.

I’m still registered with my old practice as out of catchment. They only change is that they won’t do house calls.

Sometimes you get through to a receptionist who understands what the patient is saying and will consult with duty GP if all urgent slots have gone. Other times it's a receptionist who can not see past the "all slots are full" computer message and whatever the issue is they will stick like a limpet on a rock to the "all slots are full " mantra. I have had both but always end up being seen by GP in the end because 111 refer me straight back to the GP unless it's out of hours. The receptionists who cannot grasp that seeing past their instructions to decline everybody who hasn't managed to a slot in the 8.30 stampede and realise that empathy and flexibility are good skills to have in a health care job, are not doing the practice or the patients any favours.

No it's not insane.

Lavenderflower yes the senior staff should triage. That was the way it worked in mental health but no idea if it still does. It worked very well so it's probably been changed 😆

If you have having problems with the "gatekeepers" (urgh...so many of them seem to think that they are GPs - I am sorry) then call 111 and ask for help - they can get you an appointment with a GP if your symptoms warrant one.

Of course if you are really having trouble and feeling like self care is not helping then you can always go to A&E.

And sometimes it's very obvious that a patient does need a GP or to be seen same day by a clinician but some receptionists don't have the skills to work out the difference and use a blanket "all slots are full" to absolutely everybody.

Well I thought 111 was for when the go was shut so it seems insane to me.

No. Not at all.

This is interesting though. I do not want to negate your experience, as on both occasions it sounds like it has really not been great, however I would argue that neither of these examples are the receptionists fault.

On the first occasion it was the GP who had marked the bloods incorrectly and not let you know. This is obviously terrible but it sounds like your anger is directed at the wrong person?

The second occasion demonstrates a massive systemic problem in the NHS - why does your tertiary doctor require a GP referral when you are clearly already known to them and they want to see you? Again I’m not sure this is the receptionists fault.

I think GP receptionists are the most accessible and public facing part of primary care and therefore get burdened with all of our anger every issue - not just the ones involving them.

My elderly father who moved house and had to wait 6 weeks for Virgin Media to install his WiFi. The GP surgery point blank refused to accept hard copy forms for him to join the surgery. He was unable to be seen despite having diabetes, heart problems and such severe insomnia he was suicidal. All because of no internet.

I have a relative with such severe mental health illness that she is confused doesn’t know what day it is and won’t remember appointments unless written down.

The idea that she could use an app mobile phone or internet is ridiculous. After 5 years our dr surgery are just about accepting that.

Once a receptionist asked her to describe her symptoms so she could fill in a form and my relative said she was nutty.

So why couldn't you have helped him? Why did nobody in his life do something like take their mobile phone to his house and sort it out?