Is there such a thing as a reasonable, well-adjusted, non-dysfunction, normal f***king doctor's receptionist?

[Caligula]

Or is that a myth like King Arthur will return when Britain is in great danger?

DS has been ill all day. Can I see my GP? No, I have to phone the out of hours emergency service and drive 8 miles. Even though the surgery is open, and I've said I don't mind waiting for a gap when someone turns up. The costs to the environment is irrelevant; the fact that if I didn't have a car and it would cost me £20 is irrelevant; the fact that I'm supposed to have a personal bloody relationship with my GP and the government keeps telling me that I need a GP because of a personal bloody relationship that doesn't exist, is irrelevant.

Why do I need a GP at all, if I can never see him? Why can't I just go to any old doctor? I just hate this gatekeeper system, and I hate the f*ing bitch who considers herself the gatekeeper to the doctor, even more. Seriously, every single time I have asked to see a doctor when this woman is on duty, I have been refused. It must be some kind of record. I wouldn't mind if I could just go to the out of hours service every time, because I don't like my doctor anyway, particularly, and would much prefer to keep any doctor I ever see at arms length (personal relationship my arse) but no, they tell me I have to see my GP when he's open. They're really annoyed (with me, not with the receptionist) that I'm coming to see them when my GP's surgery is open.

Ah, feel better now I've got that off my chest.

I agree about that, working w/doctors blows major d*"k royally. Just as bad as working w/solicitors.

maybe the receptionist is more qualified

you know, JT, i've gotten better advice of normal folks - MNetters, for example - than ALL the GPs and docs I've ever seen, met, slept with, lived with, etc.

As it was said by the great, 'Common sense isn't so common.'

What do they call them - the gatekeepers?? Civil servants, drs receptionists........Really have no reason to be so arsey.

I agree with FrayedKnot and feel sorry for doctor's receptionists. Gps can't possibly see all the people that want appointments in one day so what are they meant to do?

We have 2 lovely receptionists who know who I am - who my ds is, book same day appointments for me and always get the Dr immediately if I come in when ds is having an allergic reaction.

At the school I teach at there is a lovely office lady who insists on doing my photocopying and laminating, brings me cups of tea and turns on the heating in my teaching room before I get there "so it's warm for me".

I sometimes wonder if I live in a parrallel universe.

How many have you slept with expat?

Well, I had sort of a streak there for a while, Rhu, b/c I was single and free and found out that for many, their best talent was between the sheets.

Let's see . . . 7. That includes two real relationships, though, I mean, beyond just someone you saw. You know, 'saw'.

You whore!

That's what he said :o.

the BEST was when I went out w/'Jeremy', an engineer. When we first started going out, he went on and on about his best friend 'Chuck', a surgical resident. Blah blah blah who cares, just pay for the dinner already, Jeremy.

Anyhow, I went to a cafe and met this very . . . erm. . . nice fella. Whose name was Chuck. Chuck told me he was a surgeon, but as we had migrated from the cafe to a bar when he told me, I wasn't really thinking all that clearly enough to put two and two together and like, it was late and I didn't want to go to bed alone so who cares?

So I took Chuck home for a . . .nightcap, as we were in my local.

3AM, who should come knocking at my door but . . .

Jeremy.

Oh dear.

Funnily enough, I still entertained Chuck from time to time for about a year till I left the country.

Didn't see much of Jeremy, tho.

tut tut tut - were you brought up a catholic by any chance?

Yeah. But that sort of went out the window when I met Pierre at 16 whilst I was living in France.

He was Catholic, too.

:o

Knew it!
You are such a whore! When God said "Love thy neighbour" he didn't mean shag the entire population you know!

You're just jealous of all me fond memories :o.

Gawd, I was audacious, back in the day.

Ach, well, it was all good fun for the most part.

I hated being chatted up by men, they used to distract me from the serious business of drinking! I had one or two lines up my sleeve to get rid of them without seeming to be impolite at all. I told them that I worked for an undertakers putting make-up on corpses, I would then scan their faces and tell them what how I'd do them up!

Caligula,

Glad you've brought this subject up.

At the doc's surgery I attend (though as little as humanely possible) we have a series of harridans manning (sorry personing) the reception desk and personing the one sole phone line linked to the surgery (you inevitably get the busy signal). If you have the nerve to ring for a same day appointment you are invariably told, "nothing available for today" or, "Is it urgent?".

We have a choice of three docs and a practice nurse; out of the three docs two are charlatans and the only decent doc there is always, always busy seeing patients young and old. When he retires (and he's been there a while now) I will find another practice.

Would still rather use this surgery than the out of hours mob - the locum who came to see my son a few years back at 4am basically told me he had no idea what was wrong and to take him to the surgery the next day. Come 8.30am I rang the surgery only to ask, "is it urgent?". Explained situation in a reasonably calm manner and was given a reasonably early appointment with the non charlatan (the doc DS and I are actually registered with). He diagnoses tonsillitis within a minute and gives antibiotics. Something is seriously wrong here when an out of hours GP cannot diagnose tonsillitis (and he was able to look down DS's throat).

Don't get me started on the Sybil Fawlty voiced receptionist at the dentist!. Nor the school receptionists - all but one of them failed charm school!!.

Oh right! I forgot for a minute what this thread was about!
sorry about the wee hijack there!

No worries!.

You made me laugh

Ours are mostly pretty grim, but I think FrayedKnot has given us a convincing picture of why they might be that way. Well-resourced GP surgeries with a fair choice of decent doctors don't tend to have nasty receptionists IME - and they do exist, our old one was terrific.
Now I think we are Harridan Central because at least two of our GPs are known locally as unfit for purpose and they always try and fob you off with them (Dr Gargoyle can see you NOW or you'll have to wait until 2008 to see Dr Pleasant).

And forgot to say I hope your ds makes a full recovery caligula. Tigermoth and I have both been known to wait until 6.01pm to feel sudden concern for our children because our out of hours practice is way more accessible than out own GPs

Well I've realised that that is the trick - you have to wait until your own surgery is closed, and then you get an out of hours appointment. It's wierd, because you get one at the same time as your GP is open, but hey, that's the system.

Sorry I'm still not convinced by the horrible job thing. OK it's a horrible job. So are lots of things, but the people aren't disproportionately unpleasant. If you don't like it, leave. Go and work for the DWP or the London Underground. I honestly do think there are certain people who can cope with those sorts of jobs because they are naturally more unpleasant than other people - normal people leave after a bit, they can't cope with it. This particular job gives you some real, transitory power over people's lives for three minutes and I think that's what keeps the old bats going. Really I do. This whole culture of treating patients like supplicants, while talking about them in the media as "partners" just pisses me off immeasurabley. The doctor's receptionist is just a symptom of the problem, but tbh Georgina's description is already happening, and it's deceptively seductive because the NHS treats the public like shit. If you're handing over money, they treat you better and that of course is the short-term attractiveness of those centres and the danger they pose to the NHS. If most people started gradually to go to them instead of their own doctors, you wait, they'll start charging for GP visits, citing the fact that x% of people no longer use GP's anyway, they use this private health centre/ company doctor (have just remembered that when I worked in an ad agency, I never used my GP, I always used the doctor there - she was easier to see and a private prescription was cheaper than an NHS one).

Blimey acnebride, I just read on another thread that you are in Oxfor d- so it's entirely possible that I do go to the surgery you work at! Does it begin with J??

Sorry, Caligula! I forgot to mention that in my original post. That's what I do, I wait till the surgery closes then ring NHS24.

It never fails.

I even got myself an appointment there once. I was 16 weeks pregnant and picked up a vomitting bug from DD1. GP receptionist just fobbed off w/the usual, 'It's a virus.'

NO SHIT, Sherlock, but I know goddamned well there are drugs safe to use in pregnancy which will stop me from spewing my own bile.

At midnight when I arrived for my after hours appointment at the Royal Infirmary w/an NP, I had a basin of blood I'd thrown up in the taxi to show her.

By 2AM I was sleeping in my hospital bed after a nice anti-emetic and had a line of saline in my veins.

Recovery time was 1 day instead of 5 or 6 of needless misery.

'It's a virus.'

Yep, and you're a fucking case of plague, lady!

Ah no Pruni, but that's the surgery I belong to as a patient I would imagine (Sixties building in central area??) so perhaps they can discuss both of us in front of each other...