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?

I work in the NHS and we have to do so many modules on confidentiality and governance and have to anonymise emails etc. And yet we allow this kind of thing to go on. It makes no sense. I think it’s appalling really but we don’t have big enough buildings. Many GP practices don’t have the space for a triage area and wards don’t have all single rooms. So info is shared with all and sundry. I don’t agree with it but what can we do other than keep voices low.

See, this attitude is messed up. Yes the support staff might have to ask follow up questions but it IS the patient’s information and they are entitled not to have to broadcast the details to all and sundry in the waiting room.

I totally agree!

In our surgery there is no private area or screened off area where you can tell the receptionist anything private - the person standing behind you in the queue is literally right behind you so you have to give name, DOB, address, and symptoms in front of however many people are in the queue whilst the receptionist asks intrusive questions.

From a GDPR perspective its appalling- you wouldnt hand out copies of your medical records to random strangers in the waiting room for them to have a gawp at, and yet we are expected to verbalise the exact same information with zero privacy. Its awful.

You are missing the point entirely.

I dont give a fuck about some random stranger's medical records but I would still think it to be a massive breach of their privacy if someone gave them to me to read. This is no different

Exactly this. I'm a GP receptionist at the moment. They don't make the rules. The doctors do. It's not their fault and are working within the constraints of the set-up. I agree the receptionist could have, perhaps, been more discreet but some patients are hard of hearing so loud voices are necessary at times. There are private rooms within which to discuss private issues and patients can request this.
I would absolutely suggest you complain to the doctors surgery and ask for a more discrete set-up.
Conversely, the other day I had a patient at the front desk wanting to reorder his repeat medication for Viagra. He practically announced it to the whole reception area in his loud booming voice 😆
I wouldn't mind but he could've just asked for it by it's generic drug name, "Sildenafil" (not the brand name, Viagra) as that is how it listed in his repeat meds list in any case and nobody would have been any the wiser. Its almost as if he wanted everyone to know and he seems proud of the fact. Perhaps he was chuffed he was still having sex at 70? Who knows. Good for him :)

I think you mean ‘discreet’

I completely agree with you.

I also hate it when pharmacists ask for personal details so publicly.

And you would address this how?
More staff? Dedicated space?
Sounds excellent- who is funding this?

And your solution is?

Yep in the age of online data protection it baffles me how that doesn't apply in person.
I went to the hospital for an EPAU scan last week and the receptionist had me in tears as she asked me why I was there, was i bleeding, has anything come away, had i had a miscarriage before and loudly parroting my answers back to me in front of the waiting room to "check she had understood".

Good idea

In the GP surgery I go to, people are asked to write down information if they don’t want to say it out loud. The cost is of course minimal. This is highly personal data and should be treated appropriately.

Sorry @freakinthespreadsheets that sounds awful.

I felt very sorry for someone in A&E being taken behind a screen and having to give details about his suicide attempt - it sounded a serious one. Then he had to wait for hours with everyone else of course.

I once stood at the feont of the queue with abput 50 Toms, Dicks, Janes and Marys behind me. The administrator wanted my full name, date of bith and address. Mpre than enpugh information for identity theft. I responded quietly, was asked to soeak up and then speak up some more. I asked if I could write the information down and was shouted at "I can't do that, she could make an error transcribimg from paper to the computer. I pointed out she could do that if I gave the information orally. I was then shouted at more loudly.

The system is bizarre and all the while, they sit amongst a crop of "°abuse will not be tolerated" posters.

I'm pretty sure NHS induction and trainimg includes how to be as rude and unhelpful as possible to the "scummy" patients.

Yes, same. Picked up a prescription recently and everyone in the pharmacy queue would have heard my name, date of birth, address, medication, that i pay for my prescriptions and when I'm going on holiday (as they didn't have all the tablets and wanted to know when I could come back/ if I'm going to be away). Hopefully no one was the least bit interested but a burglar or fraudster might have been delighted!

I've thought this over the years - though I'd say it often even worse in hospital settings.

HV used to hold their drop in session in section of GP waiting room - and DMum did question if asking me about contraceptive, sex life post baby and my mental health and really pushing me for answers in front of not just her but an entire waiting room of people was entirely appropriate - as they hadn't even check I was comfortable with set up.

Same with chemists here - teen DD had UTI - you can't just see a pharmacist now you have to book in and GP re-directs you there so no point trying them - and shop assistant was pushy about questions as needed them for booking form in a shop with people milling around waiting for perscriptions. I answered for teen DD but she of an age she she needs/wants to try doing these things herself. I asked if in future DD could ring or e-mail to book an apponitment -was met with bafflement couldn't see teen was not able to cope with their set up.

I think there a certian level of normalising it - well it's always been this way - what can we do - no one complains becuase they are used to it and what can they do and then everyone - staff and patients - tries to nagivate round the poor system set up.

I was in our local Boots the other day wanting Co-Codamol for migraine. There was a long silent queue behind me. The girl serving me asked me loudly if I could list all the medications I was on so that she could check that I was OK to receive the Co-Codamol. I wasn’t really ready for the question and ended up mumbling the name of one medication but afterwards I felt furious, firstly with her for putting me in this position and secondly with myself for revealing personal information to a whole queue of people. I now answer ‘none’ when asked this question. I know it’s probably what’s she’s trained to do and the reasons for doing it, but the loud public nature of the request was just embarrassing and inappropriate.

I had to take a sample for a chlamydia test in as we were having IVF. The nurse booked it and I took it in and the receptionist was adamant that I needed to state what it was for to a huge queue and a room full of people. I told her too look it up as the the nurse had requested it. It was utterly ridiculous. I ended up writing it down I think. There were families of the children I teach int he waiting room

It depends on the surgery and how close the waiting chairs are to the reception desk, but yes I agree.

Last year I had to go to A&E in the local hospital because I just could not get a GP appointment. My period had lasted 2 weeks that month, and that morning I was passing huge blood clots and fainting. So I went to the hospital. The receptionist asked me to read out my name, phone number, address, and all details of what had happened that morning. I had to stand there and recount how I passed huge blood clots from my vagina, while she asked approximately what size they were, how red was the blood, etc.

The chairs were incredibly close to the desk. Kids were running around, and every chair was taken. It was packed.

Yes there needs to be some sort of privacy/room but I won't hold my breath.

And not just doctors' receptionists, it's exactly the same in chemists. I was in Boots yesterday in a mile-long queue, heard all about my fellow queuers ailments.
Edited to say I've just seen the posts saying exactly this!

I think they have some 'rules', i.e. what they can and can't do. Whether it is polite it is a different thing.
Tbh, I think they have all gone collectively crazy - you can't look at your notes and you can't verify what nonsense they are writing there, but you can shout your symptoms for all to hear. As I said, they have gone barking mad, but who can blame them, if the world has gone barking mad?

The girl serving me asked me loudly if I could list all the medications I was on so that she could check that I was OK to receive the Co-Codamol.

Dmum used to carry round a list of her and dad medication to hand over - think FIL does similar now - partly as there are so many with complex names and partly as I've found recently with DS meds people don't listen when you say and guess or think they know - and if it's written that happens less.

You can be a pedant without being a dick and correcting strangers on the internet.

Perhaps tell the management of the surgery?

Presumably the people waiting would continue to stand and wait while the receptionist stepped aside to have the exact same conversation with the patient they’re currently dealing with, just with added privacy and dignity?