Power crazy GP receptionists

[LittleMonks11]

Is there a safe space to rant about the power crazy GP receptionists?

Disclaimer: not all GP receptionists are power crazy. Many are amazing and will bend over to help - my practice has several - but they are all young 🤷‍♀️

Yesterday I rang up because I knew I had (yet another) urine infection (this is a whole other thread in itself probably for Menopause) but got a call back from a lovely GP at a partner practice who looked at my history and said she would prescribe antibiotics and I should get a sample tested at my practice. It didn't have to be before 3pm (the cut off for sending to the lab) as they could dip it there. I checked.

So I arrived at just after three and this receptionist basically said I couldnt give a sample in because it was after 3pm (poiting to the big sign on the desk). I said it didn't need to be sent away and she said, well there's no one here to test it. So I said, wait, there's no doctors on the premises?

She relented in the end with a massive huff and eye roll - but I really had to push. As I knew it would turn out, another lovely GP rang back and said I had an infection and to start the antibiotics.

I just think she could have been a bit more frigging cooperative and less thinking she knew better than the GP.

But you did need to register you and your children with a GP when you moved!

My GP practice now has a system where you fill in an online form in the morning, it’s triaged, and you get a call back within 48 hours. We’ve always had a call back same day. I think it’s a fantastic system, and the receptionist are always lovely.

Yes, of course I did. Very much not the point of the post though was it? The point was a) she was rude and obstructive and b) delayed me getting midwife care because she didn’t tell me I could register with them directly.

I'd be very surprised if this receptionist didn't know the rules.

Seems a terrible waste of money to be sending off urine to be tested for an infection when it’s just a matter of dipping and can be done in house very quickly

I've considered buying them off Amazon so as not to bother the GP but there's no point as you need to go via them anyway to get the antibiotics. And they would want to see their own test.

I had my first urine infection last October and didn't know I had one, so it got out of control and I ended up in A&E. Had every test and all the scans. Took 5 months to clear. Now I know exactly the pain I get which is why I had to make the dreaded call yesterday.

I’m so sorry OP. That’s a really frustrating experience. There is one GP like that at my practice too. All the others are great but she is a dragon. When my twins were about 6-8 weeks I needed an urgent appointment for one of them. It was for a second opinion so it needed to not be the duty doctor. There were no appointments available but the nice receptionist called one of the GPs (who also had twins) and she took pity on me said if I could get in for 7am the next day and I didn’t mind waiting around for a bit she would be able to see me at some point in the two hours before her clinic officially started. This is maybe hard for anyone who hasn’t been in a similar situation to understand, but it was incredibly stressful feeding the DTs and getting my other children (2 and 5) up and dressed up and getting us all to the surgery. DH was away with work. When I arrived the dragon receptionist was on duty and told me off for arriving without an appointment and said I had to wait until 8 when the practice officially opened. We waited. At 8 I went back to her desk and she said my request was impossible as the GP didn’t have any open appointments that day. She refused to call and check with the GP. Now I would ask to speak to the practice manager but I was so exhausted I just went home and cried. It was horrible.

I did get my second opinion in the end and the GP diagnosed DT1’s condition and gave him an emergency referral , but it took a few more days and he lost more weight. Whenever I see the receptionist how I still feel upset and humiliated. I totally get that surgery receptionists are underpaid for the amount of responsibility they have, and of course they shouldn’t be subject to the frequent abuse they receive, but sometimes their insistence of following process to the letter means the surgery fails in its duty of care. I also would hope that ensuring candidates are kind and empathetic is part of the recruitment process. I don’t think it should ever be acceptable to tell off a vulnerable patient who hasn’t been impolite or abusive.

It could be the GP practice has a HCA or practice nurse who has a blocked out slot say 2:40-2:50/2:50-3, etc to dip all the urines dropped in that day. They often have slots blocked for things like checking urines, checking fridge temps, checking resus trolley, etc. at the end of their clinics.
The GP might not be aware of this. In my practice you can't have patients booked in for blood tests after 2:30 otherwise miss collection. But that doesn't mean doctors haven't booked in patients themselves after then as they wanted same day bloods, whereas the Reception team wouldn't have booked the patient after 2:30 as know about pick up times, etc.
Also lots of HCAs and practice nurses finish by 3 as do early starts and short lunches so can work around childcare commitments, so when they say there isn't anyone to check it they likely mean the designated urine dipper for that day. It probably got dipped by the on call GP (which is not best use of their time) in your case or the usual person if staying late, etc. GPs might not necessarily know this if new/locum/trainee, etc.
Hopefully this gives some perspective.

What a horrible experience. There are definitely one-offs as in every line of work - but the impact can be much more significant in this one.

Yes she was.
The rule at your surgery is no samples to be accepted after 3pm. There is a sign stating that. The receptionist wouldn’t have known that the GP had told you to just drop it off for a dip test at the point you arrived after 3pm. Presumably whoever’s duty it is to deal with all the samples only works til 3pm. She was doing her job as directed - don’t accept samples after 3pm. She’s probably sick of patients expecting the GPS to drop everything to bow to their demands.
The implication that only young staff can do the job to your standards is ageist and pathetic.

So in this instance, it was the GP who was providing a poor service by not informing the reception staff about the conversation with you.

Yeah, sorry, but no.

The sign says something like 'Samples to be sent away need to be in by 3pm'

I explained it wasn't being sent away.

In my practice the young ones are nicer.

It's just a mystery why there's such a high turn over of staff in GP surgeries with people like OP about!

It was the doctors fault for not telling the receptionist to expect a late sample. Where I work we are not allowed to accept samples after 12noon, unless told to in advance by a doctor or nurse.

I would suspect there weee no nurses or HCA on duty that afternoon. So she was probably correct in telling you there was no one to dip it - I work as a HCA in a gp practice and the GP’s definately don’t dip urines that are dropped off.
its incredibly hard to get receptionists to stay, people are very very rude and abusive to them, then nice as pie to clinical staff.
and actually dipping is not a great idea
we don’t dip many urines at all anymore - there was no point if she had already given you antibiotics.

I was just trying to get a test for a suspected infection and following the instructions of the GP I spoke to.

Do you think she's going to leave her job now?

If she has any sense yes she will!

Maybe it's for the best.

I have a couple of friends who are GP receptionists who are the loveliest people on earth. The change in attitude at work only points to the amount of crap and abuse they have to deal with on a daily basis that not many other people would be prepared to put up with in their job. You might be nice but the 10 people they saw before you might have been nightmares.

I work for the NHS in a similar but slightly different role and there are very strict rules in place and lots of patients constantly trying to bend them as they think their needs are greater than others. In this case, I think the issue lies with the GP that told you to drop a sample off after the usual time and then didn’t communicate that to the reception team so she didn’t know you were an exception to the usual rule. You’re being quite harsh on the receptionist who was following her guidelines, do you understand how much trouble she could have been in if she didn’t? Surely the easiest thing would have been to clearly communicate with her what you were told and by which doctor in which case it would have avoided the entire saga. Also, buying dip sticks from Amazon or buying antibiotics online is a very bad idea. We have to use regulated items for a reason.

It's not a job I'd ever want. Some of my role is public facing (retail showroom) and the rudeness/entitlement of some people never ceases to amaze me.

I totally get this. And it's terrible. It was just the common sense thing and 'can don't' attitude before turning away. No offer of a solution - just 'and away you go'. I had to stand my ground. I wasn't abusive at all.

I did. I explained very politely.

If she was not able to take it in, she wouldn't have taken it in.

I also feel that people put off phoning the GP because of the triage by receptionists. And when you have a power crazy one, it's something to be dreaded. I hate calling and always hope for one of the young ones. That's my experience.