I upset a lady at GP surgery today

[TheQuirkyMaker]

A queue of five people in front at surgery. Waiting room pretty full. Only one receptionist available. An elderly lady at the front was telling the receptionist that she had just picked up meds at the chemist, and they had been changed from her regular ones to different ones. There was back and forth discussion, and every few minutes the lady would say, "but nobody told me they would be changed". I asked the lady in front of me how long this had been going on and she said "about 10 minutes". After a full further 15 minutes I said "Look, this is getting us no where, none of us will get to see a doctor if we can't sign in". I got a bit of condemnation along the lines of "she was entitled to her time", but I said, "this is reception, not a consultation. Just repeating that she wasn't told her medication would be changed is getting us no where. This could go on forever".
People got a bit sniffy with me, and I got a few stares, but I was right, wasn't I?
I get we should be tolerant of older people, but there has to be a bit of give and take.

They were probably in awe at your chutzpah.

the receptionists are supposed to be fierce for this reason to prevent people monopolising their time

I’m surprised the receptionist didn’t say anything after that length of time / none of the clinical staff appeared to see why they had no patients arriving.

Sounds like she had a legitimate issue which should have dealt with more efficiently - she should have been signposted to a place where she could get help. In any event, this very scenario actually happened to me today - I just redirected their attention briefly so I could sign in and then left them to it.

Yes I wouldn't worry about it. As you say you needed to check in and it sounded like it was a waste of time

@TheQuirkyMaker Entirely reasonable by you. Ignore the tutting women.

Our GP surgery has one of those self check-in screens for this reason.

Who made you the queen of the gp reception? Totally legitimate query; it’s not her fault the receptionist wasn’t managing her query. Sounds like she needed a call from her gp to explain the change of meds if the pharmacist wasn’t able to. I’m surprised you don’t have electronic sign in - even my tiny village gp has that - but if you were concerned you would miss your appointment then you could have politely asked to check in rather than tell a woman off for being confused and asking for help.

Thats very unusual from a doctors receptionist? They usually flatten people in seconds.

I'm amazed the elderly lady didn't get short- shrift from the receptionist- I've just changed doctor's because of the rude, unhelpful receptionists.

I think you were right to say something OP and I wouldn't worry about it.

The GP was being "kind"- she should have just said "I'm a receptionist, you need to speak to a clinician". EVERYONE was being kind- that is why it became endless.

You might have been ‘right’ in that she was taking up too much time if it is was truly a total of 25 minutes (which I’m sorry but sounds totally implausible) but you could have been politer. Something like ‘I’m sorry to interrupt but I’ve been waiting a long time, can I just check in quickly so I don’t miss my appointment’.

They don’t have a self check in? Reception should have called more staff but I think you were rude. If you need extra time for a problem you probably don’t consider the line behind you.

Ours have too, but it wasn't working, which was why so many people were milling about and trying to get to a receptionist.

Had the actual medication changed was it generic drugs given rather than brand names?

Good on you, OP. It's one thing to be patient, another to be ridiculous and not intervene when her behaviour is delaying everyone and after 25 minutes derailing the working day. They should've been more assertive with her after she was repeatedly told what happened and ask her to book an appointment if she still has any questions.

25 minutes repeating this same exchange? Really?

Setting that aside, you seem to have expressed yourself in an unnecessarily stroppy way: "this is reception, not a consultation. Just repeating that she wasn't told her medication would be changed is getting us no where. This could go on forever".

Would have been more acceptable just to say to the receptionist "Any chance we could just quickly check-in before you finish resolving this?"

YANBU because at our surgery the system doesn’t let you or the receptionist check you in for an appointment if it’s 6 mins past the appointment time so you all really would have been stuffed if it continued.

I have, once or twice, asked people in front of me in the supermarket if they would mind stopping chatting with the cashier, then another time, there was a queue going back up along the aisle and a customer was talking away to someone next to her, hadn’t started unloading her trolley despite the customer in front having left lots of room.

I think it’s fair to ask people to stop if they’re going round in circles. The receptionist wasn’t going to be able to resolve the issue/explain why the meds had been changed. But yes, why don’t you have the check in screen yet?!

Same!

Although complaining person wasn’t going to get anywhere with reception- she or they should have suggested a (very) non-urgent appointment

You wanted to check in and be able to sit down, and that's ok.

But I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt that you're a reasonably intelligent person and don't really think that the doctors were just sitting in back in empty rooms while a bunch of patients who were mysteriously delayed in the waiting room because they couldn't check in. If the nurses were ready to bring another patient back then they'd come up, at which point the receptionist would have someone to help sort out the issue.

The only thing actually at stake was you and the others waiting before you checked in vs checking in then waiting. The situation didn't call for a stroppy approach, just a polite catching of the receptionist's eye.

I was behind her for 15 minutes, and I only spoke up because someone in front of me rolled her eyes when I looked at her. It seemed like forever, and it was the continual "But no one said they would be changing my medicine" that got to me.
How many times can you say the same bloody thing, get the same reply, and think it worthwhile saying it again? Did she expect the receptionist to eventually say "Oh, our mistake, here's the medicine you were expecting, Mrs. Smith"?

Wot no electronic check in?!

The woman perhaps was delirious or had cognitive impairment so difficult for reception

I don't know and neither did the receptionist. That wasn't the point. The point was the lady thought (I assume) she could browbeat the receptionist to supply the medicine she wanted if she kept on enough.

The receptionist should have booked an appointment or phone call from the doctor rather than just stand there for ages listening to the woman saying the same thing over and over again.