What do GP receptionists ask intrusive questions?

[jeaux90]

AIBU to not expect to tell the receptionist more details? She asked me the nature of the appointment. I said it’s a gynaecological issue, she asked if I could share more information I said no, I’m not comfortable doing that. It wasn’t an emergency appointment and I asked for a female GP. Surely she didn’t need to know anything more?

jeux90
For those of us who have had children we know exactly that our “body parts” are often put up for public display during child birth and smear tests, mammograms etc. This also make us very aware of when something is urgent or not

I have birthed two children, still having smears, also has a rectal prolapse and having painful, for me,mammograms and hopefully coming to the end of the menopause I am also aware of my body and when something is up. That's why I'd rather be direct with a receptionist instead of 'not being comfortable ' in saying what wrong. If she directs me to the treatment room to a nurse quicker than she can get me to a doctor more power to her!!!

Why do you even think a receptionist would give two hoots about your intimate bits! They get dozens and dozens of calls a day. How are they to know that you are uptight about disclosing your situation and its only a doctor that can see you.
Someone else might phone up, refuse to give details and its a minor ailment that can be dealt within minutes by the nurse and not taking up a GP appointment that makes someone who really needs it wait longer.

She asked if you could share more information, you said no, as you have the right to do.

As long as she accepted my "no", I'd be ok with that I think.

Or did she keep on at you to give more details? That's not ok.

Neither are 999 operators.
But I assume you'd phone them in an emergency.

Our receptionists always ask what it's about but I don't know why. I'd have thought they'd pass on the information to the doctor but when I go in the doctor always asks me what the problem is.

Nor are the first line of advisors on 111

So potentially cutting herself off from huge swathes of emergency healthcare

I'm confused? They can carry out echocardiograms at GP surgeries. I've had one. An ECG is an echocardiogram. That's what it stands for.

We have a number of young men taking calls/at the desk at our health centre. I have to say that the one I spoke to a while ago was brilliant and very empathetic but that wasn't a gynae issue. I don't know if there is a system in place to ask for a female receptionist.

What concerns me most about our practice is they regularly get the admin team to call you about changes to medication. If you ask why they are stopping the tablet that keeps a 90 year old's blood pressure in a safe range they are unable to answer. (That one took weeks to resolve). Or worse, they leave it for the staff at the pharmacy to tell you when you pick up a repeat. Only this week, I only found the Dr had given me some new tablets when I got a text from the pharmacy to say they were ready and I called them to say I hadn't put in a prescription. If I hadn't set up text messaging with them, I wouldn't have known.

And me. I ended up in hospital on a drip overnight as receptionist did not book me to see GP that day but instead booked the paramedic for the next day. Happily a family member is a GP and when I phoned them due to the pain and symptoms they told me to go straight to A&E and what I had could do lasting damage without treatment.

@Balloonhearts they are two different things. An echocardiogram (echo) is an ultrasound of the heart and provides images of the heart’s structure and any defects which is what I needed. An ECG (electrocardiogram) records the electrical activity. Not the same at all when you need to know if you have a hereditary heart valve issue.

Not quite - An ECG is an electrocardiogram which records the electrical activity of your heart, while an echocardiogram uses ultrasound imaging to show the heart’s structure and how it pumps blood. Similar names but different things.

YAVU, and so is everyone who believes receptionists don’t need to know why you need to see a doctor. They aren't trying to examine you; they just need a little information to handle your request properly. It can be hard to talk about sensitive problems, but the receptionist just wants a general idea, not every single detail. Saying "it's gynecological" isn't helpful because it's too vague. Surely you can see that?
If you tell them you think you have cystitis, ongoing bleeding, or continence issues, they can manage the call correctly. Many GPs have different special interests. For instance, the receptionist might suggest you see Doctor A because they specialise in menopause, rather than Doctor B who specialises in incontinence.
It seems some people don't realise that doctors' receptionists are trained. They work in a supervised environment and are supported by the rest of the staff. They don't just guess what to do

I understand the reasons why they do, but that doesn't mean the process is right.
It completely undermines patient confidentiality. It is intrusive and off-putting.
As a patient I also don't want to sit and listen to other peoples ailments or why they want to see the doctor. Nor do I want the receptionist to know what is wrong with me.
The receptionists too, whilst guided, are not medically qualified.
There must be a better system. I don't profess to have all the answers. Just to know this is not good and there must be a better way.

i live in a small market town and I know the receptionists that work at my doctors. I don’t want to discuss why I need to see a doctor to them because it’s confidential. Because of this I have a list aslong as my arm of problems that I have from lumps to extremely worrying periods but I refuse to call them because last time I called and said I wasn’t comfortable explaining over the phone my problem I was told I needed to tell them so they could triage me.
A couple of months ago I had to go down their to drop something off and an elderly lady was crying because the receptionist told her she needed to book her appointment online and that she couldn’t do it for her, all the while sitting in front of her computer. Gp receptionists are on some kind power trip that makes them feel important and it’s their way so like it or lump it.
I often wonder if receptionists have to have “almighty bitch” on their cv to get the job.

I thought GPs had to offer e consult now. Ours does. It works well, you don't have to talk to the receptionist and doctors can decide what's urgent.

This is one area where our surgery is still amazing. I doubt it will last too much longer though as two GP's are due to retire and I'm sure they'll struggle to replace them.

Between 7.45am and 8.30 the phone lines are manned by two GP's, two nurses and one very well trained receptionist. The triage system works brilliantly well and you tend to get an appointment with the right person very quickly.

It's also great for someone like me with an ongoing condition as often I just have to explain "I have X, Y is happening so I need Z" and they'll ask a few questions and then send a prescription to the pharmacy.

They say it saves them a lot of time ( there was a few moans that they could be having appointments at those times) overall so they're hoping to keep it up.

Oh I see, thank you

Exactly!

@OffTheHookNow at my last GPs surgery they weren't well trained enough. See above my previous post.

Because it’s their job.

They're not medically trained...people are obviously not being 'coy children' as they are happy to discuss the issue with a qualified professional, just not an unqualified receptionist.

I spent time living in another country and it always amazes me that people in the UK accept their quality of life going down, or issues not being fixed, because they are happier rolling their eyes and being rude to people who bring up problems than to work together to fix them.

To be able to triage or signpost you to the correct. The way GPs operate now has changed, you can’t just expect an appointment within the hour or a prescription for paracetamol.

We have nurse practicioners at our surgery that can prescribe, negating the need to see a GP. So perhaps that's why they ask, saves wasting GP appointments that way

@jeaux90 out of interest would you be more comfortable with filling in a form and detailing your issues? Many surgeries are now using this system. If the relevant questions are left blank then I think it’s inevitable that you will get low priority which is your right.

What is clear is that no one system works for everyone. Phoning is a complete pain IMO.

I'm not comfortable giving out information either, especially at my local teeny tiny Health Centre where every word spoken by the Receptionist echoes all the way through the waiting room but until people stop trying to make GP appointments for issues better suited to other Health Care professionals we just need to suck it up.

You said Gynaecology - that could be post menopausal bleeding triggering a cancer pathway and you would get a same day emergency GP appointment. Or, incontinence, perhaps better placed with Physio or the specialist Incontinence Service Nurse. Or, funny lumpy bumps best suited for the STI clinic. Or, an itchy bit that the Pharmacist could help with.

They asked the question, that's their job.

For those that don't want to say it out loud because they don't want the waiting room to hear (understandable) - why not just write the basics down on a bit of paper and hand to the receptionist?