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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to really have it in for GP's surgeries...

350 replies

mersmam · 25/02/2009 18:14

Had an appointment with my community midwife today (I'm 30 weeks pregnant and haven't seen her since I was 16 weeks, which was when she made the appointment.)
Got to the drs surgery to find it locked and a notice up saying that the surgery is closed this afternoon for staff training! As far as I'm aware there has been no attempt to contact me about this! I rang the midwife's office straight away but could only leave a message and have so far had no response.
Am really annoyed as have arranged my whole day around the appointment (and DH had arranged to work from home so he could come too).
Generally I am just sick of the whole GP system - I can never get an appointment at a convenient time - when I do I always have to wait at least half an hour (no joke with three DCs under 5) and the staff on reception are rude.
I asked for a home visit once as I was ill along with all the DCs and you'd think I'd asked for the moon...

The thing with the midwife today feels like the final straw...

Should I change surgeries to somewhere further away (which would be less convenient?) or are they all like this?

OP posts:
fanjoforthemammaries7850 · 26/02/2009 14:23

hmm, sounds better worded like that I admit!

BoffinMum · 26/02/2009 14:23

Plus I think I said at my surgery they are very good nearly all of the time. No nonsense, not oozing and schmoozing, but helpful and see the point of why we are all there.

tumtumtetum · 26/02/2009 14:35

Well..... not read all of it. But some GP practices do seem to have rude receptionists. Mine is one. Talking to one at GP was the only time I cried after having DD.

At our hospital as well, the ante natal ones are awful. They make you wait at the desk for 10-15 mins while they chat about eastenders and then book you in very dismissively. My last appointment, which I had to book a morning off work for, had been rearranged but no-one told me so I rocked up at 9am only to be turned away. it happens all the time. I will just never forget one time last pg when the waiting room was so full all the heavily pg women were having to stand, for hours. Eventually i got called through and then realised that the next room had a huge waiting area with stacks of chairs. Yet no-one thought to let people wait there or say they could bring chairs through. It struck me as very odd.

Possibly you only notice the rude people, which is why there seem to be so many... I don't know.

They also never ever apologise for anything, I think that is in the training maybe.

fanjoforthemammaries7850 · 26/02/2009 14:39

"They also never ever apologise for anything, I think that is in the training maybe. "

what a crock.

BoffinMum · 26/02/2009 14:39

I think the problem is probably the lack of training. At my hospital ANC they are truly lovely and ever so helpful and smiiley, but that is because it is the ethos of the place and it is expected of them, so the training presumably ties in with that.

fanjoforthemammaries7850 · 26/02/2009 14:41

I think I will leave everyone to their discussion of how crap receptionists are, not in the mood today tbh ..byee

BoffinMum · 26/02/2009 14:41

Can I just point out some school staff rooms are full of miserable buggers moaning about the children and parents, and crossing off the days until the holidays on the calendar, while others are more upbeat and have conversations about fun things the school is doing, projects to plan for, etc etc. It's all to do with corporate culture, and often comes down from the top ...

tumtumtetum · 26/02/2009 15:48

If I was working and had rearranged someones appointment and not told them so they had to take time off work unpaid, only to be turned away, I would say "I'm sorry we don't appear to have notified you".

Just manners surely?

And no I wasn't having a go at them I'm not an agressive person.

Afterwards I was just so upset and pissed off about the whole thing. It's not the first time it's happened.

tumtumtetum · 26/02/2009 15:51

Fanjo I know you've left but if you come back maybe you can tell me why some people do this stuff - not telling roomfulls of heavily pf women in midsummer that they can sit next dorr or take a seat from next door?

I sat on the floor for an hour.

There were 3 women on reception all just looking at us.

Given that a good proportion of the women probably weren't having straightforward pregnancies my only conclusion was that it was malicious. I would be happy to be told otherwise. Many of the women were in tears.

fanjoforthemammaries7850 · 26/02/2009 15:55

This is why I am not contributing to this thread!

fanjoforthemammaries7850 · 26/02/2009 15:57

in fact so don't bother posting any more posts addressed personally to me, as if I can personally answer for your GPs receptionists? Note : I don't even work for a GP!

As you were.

bamboostalks · 26/02/2009 15:58

I think more responsibility for this sort of behaviour should be placed with higher management. Receptionists get away with being rude because it is facilitated by Gps etc who lack respect for their patients and are not professional and empathetic in their dealings with their patients. It does indeed start at the top. When you go into a happy and smoothly run surgery, it is clear that the GP sets the tone.

unpaidworker · 26/02/2009 16:00

I rang my GP's surgery for iron results, receptionist tole me that my levels were satisfactory. 2 weeks later MW told me I was anemic (sp?) and needed a double dose of iron. It might not have been the recptionist fault who knows but bloody annoying.

unpaidworker · 26/02/2009 16:02

bamboo

My Gps are lovley, some of the receptionist are rude whitches who don't appear to geive toss. The Gps are great with DC and always spend lost of time with patients.

tumtumtetum · 26/02/2009 16:09

It's just that people are very vulnerable when going to see the doc either at hospital or at GP.

And IME the people on reception can be so horrible.

And so people get very upset and remember it. People don't remember nice people, just awful experiences. And so many people have had so many awful experiences with reception people in GP/hospital that it goes to form a stereotype.

Of course they're not all nasty, but enough are, and to people when they're feeling very vulnerable, it's very upsetting and hurtful.

I have to say that in none of my customer facing roles would my colleagues or I be able to behave like some of these people do without being sacked.

A few manners and to treat people with a bit of respect don't hurt.

The argument that people are worn down doesn't hold either - if someone is out of order you respond to them as such, if someone is nice and polite you respond to them as such. Being rude to everyone irrespective is a bit odd and unprofessional.

MadameCastafiore · 26/02/2009 16:22

My noraml conversation with our Dr's receptionist goes like this.

May I have an appointment for today please?

Is it an emergency?

Yes.

Can you tell me what is wrong?

Well yes, but as you are not medically qualified you are unable to judge whether it is an emergency or not so really there is no point.

Can you just give me a brief outline?

DS has a fever of 40.1 and has tonsilitus for the 4th time in the last 3 months.

I'll make you an appointment with the practice nurse, she deals with sore throats!

AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

myfriendflicka · 26/02/2009 16:24

Northern Lurker - when my husband was terminally ill (and he has since died), the reception team at my GP practice greatly added to my stress by being extremely rude and unco-operative about his prescriptions, on several occasions telling me that he should have had enough drugs and implying that I was trying to get them fraudulently. As he was on steriods, suddenly coming off them was life-threatening.

Nobody bothered to tell me, until very late in his illness, that they could have arranged for the prescriptions to be delivered to our home.

I complained, in writing, to the practice manager. As a result they changed their procedures (especially for dealing with terminally ill patients and their families) and had to re-train their reception staff.

I cannot begin to tell you about the stress they caused me, trying to cope with his truly terrible illness and keep going at work, not to mention being his carer and look after two young children. People who complain about reception staff often have legitimate grievances - how dare you imply it is about convenience.

fanjoforthemammaries7850 · 26/02/2009 16:27

Ah I am glad my curiosity got better of me and I came back.

Madame Castafiore.

Did it NEVER occur to you that MAYBE she HAS to ask what is wrong as there is a PROCEDURE in place for appointments, put in place by the GPs which she HAS to follow, as she works FOR THEM ie a LIST of conditions which ARE emergencies, which she is allowed to make emergency appointments for and a LIST of who deals with what? (ie the practice nurse deals with sore throats)??!

I am a dental receptionist and if people phone with toothache I HAVE to ask what is wrong as I have instructions as to which conditions warrant an urgent appointment and when they can come in etc.

And I must add, woe betide me if i just didn't ask and book people in for an urgent appointment without asking the dreaded question "What is wrong".

I don't even like asking it.

Oh sorry, I mean, I love asking, as I am on a power trip and love pretending to be a dentist even though I have no qualifications.

Sheesh.

Sheesh again.

fanjoforthemammaries7850 · 26/02/2009 16:30

And yes, there are some rude/badly trained reception staff.

But people are so wide of the mark as to their conception of how much power receptionists have, and no idea about the rules we have to follow.

However I am wasting my breath as this thread IS now turning into nothing but a giant rant against receptionists.

unpaidworker · 26/02/2009 16:33

myfriend

I just wanted to say I'm sorry for your loss and the way you were treated, that is truley awful. I'm glad you had the strength to complain and make a difference - something we could take notice of.

MadameCastafiore · 26/02/2009 16:36

You are a dental receptionist and you think that qualifies you to speak up in place of doctors receptionist - feck me anyone ever died of a chipped tooth?

My son is 4 he has had tonsilitus badly so many times in his little life it is not funny anymore - he spends days on the sofa not eating, hallucinating and vomiting because he is so ill so forgive me if I am a little tetchy about the stupid cow who sends us to see the nurse who isn't even allowed to write a prescription for another lot of antibiotics that really are not helping him.

fanjoforthemammaries7850 · 26/02/2009 16:40

I was explaining that perhaps she had procedures to follow..did you read my post?

And I stand by what i said..maybe she is TOLD to send all people with sore throats to the nurse! But still she gets called a stupid cow by you?

Are you that pleasant to her on the phone? And then call her rude if she isn't effusive?

fanjoforthemammaries7850 · 26/02/2009 16:42

And I wasn't aware that I must know my place and not dare to discuss doctor's receptionists, since I am just a lowly dentist's one. Shame on me..!

unpaidworker · 26/02/2009 16:42

I NEVER tell the receptionist what I want to see the GP for, who are they to comment. It is a load of hogwash that they need to ask so that they can see if you qualify for an appointment etc - none of them are medically trained. How can you decide wether a patient needs an appointmnet based on medical need when you don't know what the f*uck you are talking about?

fanjoforthemammaries7850 · 26/02/2009 16:45

"How can you decide wether a patient needs an appointmnet based on medical need when you don't know what the f*uck you are talking about? "

Yes, we were so wrong to mention that some patients are rude and obnoxious with no respect for the receptionist earlier, weren't we!