Why aren’t doctor’s receptionists more discrete?

[BakedPotatoBeansCheeseColeslaw]

I’m waiting in the doctor's surgery this morning for something routine.

I woman has turned up wailing that she doesn’t feel very well and asking to see a doctor. The receptionist is doing the “triage” with her but it is extremely public. The woman herself is extremely loud but she’s clearly not mentally very well as she has announced to the room that she thinks she is having a nervous breakdown. However the woman on reception is practically shouting the questions.

I know this woman’s name, date of birth, first line of address and what medication she is currently taking. It’s all very embarrassing.

AIBU to think if doctor’s receptionists are going to ask questions about your medical problem, they should do so privately and not to a room full of patients?

As a GP receptionist I like to think that I care about the patients and their dignity.
You have a few options:

1. Write things down and pass to the receptionist if you prefer to keep things (understandably) private
2. Ask to speak in a private room
3. Complain to the GPs about the set-up if you feel it's not possible to have a discreet conversation. It's the GPs that make the rules, not the receptionists. HTH :)

I wish all were like you! But they aren’t. At my surgery for the last 20 years it has been the same: the receptionist asking you to speak louder so she can hear you behind the glass screen while the whole sitting room now knows you found lumps in your breast, you are having a discharge or the ADs you were given for stress and anxiety are making you ill.

i bloody wish they had the decency to ask me to write things! But agree with you, it is not the receptionists fault but the bloody set up they have these days…

Yes, when I started working at my GP surgery, I was shocked about the amount we have to triage. I complained to the one of the doctors that it's a heck of a lot of responsibility to carry when we have little medical knowledge! She didn't disagree. However, we do have guidelines we have to follow, much like the 111 calls.

Ah, yes, we often have patients unwilling to tell us what is wrong and they say it's confidential, which is perfectly fine. We'll just type "personal issue" so as to the let the doctor know that we were unable to get any more detailed info. The only problem with that is that if the appointment could have been carried out by a nurse, instead of GP, the patient will end up wasting their own time as the GP will still refer them to the nurse and they then have to make yet another appointment. As receptionists, we are obliged to ask about the illness/symptoms - it's in our job description - but yes, the patient has every right not to share any information they deem embarrassing.

Oh, that sounds awful :( and understandably very embarrassing....
It's not to the receptionist who hears this stuff day in and day out, but that's not the point. It's your dignity that matters. I'd feel exactly the same if I was the patient.
For anyone on here experiencing the same, I'd suggest you take matters into your own hands and ask for a pen and paper to write down your answers.
A decent receptionist shouldn't have a problem with this ....or come in with the issue already written down on a piece of paper to save yourself this problem.
Good luck x

I detest rude GP receptionists and I have found over my 66 years that it varies from.practice to practice and am persuaded it exists more where the GP's have a cavalier attitude to the patients and are rude to the supppet staff.

However, if I really need an appointment, I've no issue telling the receptionist why although I find the submission form on the NHS App bloody marvellous.

I have a lump in my upper right breast;
I have felt unwell for a week, dreadful cough and now breathless with higher than usual BP.
Both resulted in a same day GP appointment.

Hard lump on my upper arm, not moveable;
Bad fall a week ago, struck a rib, still significant pain and a bruise but breathing is fine. Could an XRay be arranged for the recors due to my osteoporosis please?
GP apt within the week.

Yes you're right. I was shocked at how (bordering on) rude some of my colleagues are to patients when I first started. It's true it can be a culture within certain practices where the GPs are uber strict about the rules....and then that filters down to the attitude of the support staff. I'm always on the side of the patient and apologise for their frustrations etc....but I've actually been pulled up for being "too negative about the business" (our calls are recorded and occasionally listened to!!)....so you can't win. However there are some patients who are literally abusive (I've experienced that as well 😬 so you have to stand your ground as well at times.
I'm sorry to hear about your health issues. Our practice offers same day GP appointments only (with very few pre-bookable options) so you would have been seen the same day as long as you rang early or walked in to the surgery and made the appointment at the desk before 9am.

@EvieBB I think people would be truly shocked if they realised how much clinical stuff is handled by admin staff, often earning just above minimum wage.

Yes absolutely, the triaging being one of those things....although we have lots of guidance and have the ask various questions to ascertain whether that person needs A&E...or simply their local pharmacy. You'd be amazed at the amount of people who want to see a doctor after only one day with a cough and runny nose! I had one guy like this asking for an appointment to see a GP but then proceeded to tell me he was just about to go to the gym for a workout! Clearly, he wasn't ill enough to need a prescription for antibiotics quite yet!!
Much of it is common sense...especially once you're experienced, but obviously you can't be complacent. We also have a Team Leader who oversees the appointments and checks that everyone is triaging correctly.

Yep. I remember once a person needed an ‘urgent’ appointment for that day. Gave them the choice of two or three and none were suitable due to school pick up time etc. Hardly urgent then.

As an aside, when working in the surgery, came to hate the word ‘urgent’ as everything was urgent - appointment needed, prescription request, referral done etc.

@EvieBB thanks for your kind words. Those apts are over about the last 6/7 years. I'm a pretty tough old bird.

People can tell fibs to receptionists, because they do not want tho tell someone with no medical training what their issue is, it can be something embarrassing. Patients are not legally obliged to tell a receptionist why they need an appointment. I certainly do not .

Glad to hear that x

Yes of course - I don't think I would either if it was something embarrassing and of course you are perfectly within your rights to say it's personal and you don't wish to discuss further. We do have patients however who need lots of support and guidance and we only ask these questions because
(a) we are told to ask - it's part of our job description
and
(b) we need to direct the patient to the correct service. We get pulled up if we book a patient in with a GP when that appointment should've been booked in with the nurse, or physio or podiatrist or pharmacy referral... or God forbid A&E.

I guess some of the issue is where you live. We live close to London in a Home County suburb. I've never seen any of the receptionists outside of the surgery. My mum lives in a provincial large village where everyone knows everyone else - she knew the practice manager's mum and dad socially once upon a time.

To be fair I often listen to conversations what else is there to do when you are waiting 40 minutes for your appointment which often happens at my surgery.
They used to have magazines to read but have removed them and the WiFi never works. So yes I listen to the receptionists shouting out private information. If I’m really bored I try and guess what their ailment is and give myself points if I get it right.

This thread has made me remember being tiriaged to see the nurse despite me saying that I had had a cough and painful chest for weeks and was now coughing up blood and various other symptoms, Saw nurse who did my pulse and oxygen level and actually annnouced with panic in her voice "oh you are seriously ill and need to see a doctor now" and she swiftly exited the room to find one. Anti biotics for two weeks, bed rest and signed off work. On another occasion i had an incomplete miscarriage, and my teenage child who happened not to be in school phoned the surgery and said "my mum is lying on the bed screaming" was told to help me dress and walk with me to the surgery! When we got there they called an ambulance at once, the hosptial could not believe that i had been made to walk to the doctors, I won't go into details about what state I was in but I had to have two procedures to help me , one as soon as i arrived and another under GA a day later.