Why do doctor's receptionists feel qualified to ask you what the medical problem is when you want a doctor's appointment?

[Caligula]

And should they really be doing this?

Are they under any duty of confidentiality?

TBH, I don't want to discuss my medical status with anyone except a doctor (even if it's just a bad cold!) and I wonder if doctor's receptionists are actually trained to assess whether you need an appointment or not? And if they aren't, why the bloody hell do they ask?

Or am I just being pernickity and bad tempered because I feel ill?!

That's outrageous. What bloody business of hers was it? And why is she talking about it with such a lack of confidentiality?

Y'see, I think there may be a real problem here (of confidentiality etc., which isn't being addressed in public. We all moan about dr's receptionists, but I've never come across any guidelines saying what they're qualified to ask, when and how. But I'm pretty damn sure they're not qualified to ask a patient why she's had a termination, and i really believe there's a huge oversight in training going on here.

If its something personal I didn't want broadcasting to the waiting room I would generally ring up.

But what if you rang up then went down to the doctors, and then the receptionist broadcast it anyway?

What safeguards does a patient have against their personal medical histories being broadcast to the rest of the patients waiting in the surgery?

It just seems to me that it is purely arbitrary about whether you get an appointment, discretion, confidentiality, etc. - there just doesn't seem to be any consistency about it. Which really makes me wonder what their actual job is. (Like, is it part of their job to ask impertinent questions such as the one Stuart C described? - in some surgeries, maybe it is, in others, maybe it isn't. Who knows?)

AM A 79 yr old.just want to say that we "oldies"have not suddenly logged the health service as suggested I m some of your comments.We have gradually become older and as there has been no forethought by the government to look after us there are not enough facilities to help us.
My gp surgery now asks for you DO B BEFORE asking your name.I suspect t this is to sideline you to a nurse being a oap.

Not condoning indiscretion , but what's the alternative ? Do pp think GPs should answer the phone , triage and book patients in all by themselves ?

I think it's more about directing the patient to the right doctor/hcp/midwife etc (eg only one doctor st my practice implants coils), or if you want routine bloods perhaps they have a phlebotomist rather than seeing the nurse, or jab for flu may be at a certain period ... Loads of different reasons you may think you want an appointment with 'X' when you actually need 'y'

The thing with gps is that each practice is in effect a private business. The gap partners are contractors to the nhs. The staff they employ work under direction of the gps. Receptionists are not asking because they are nosy, they ask because that is what they have been told to do. EVERYTHING they do is by protocol, from booking appointments to cleaning up vomit to handling samples. If you don't like it then call the practice manager or better still join the patient participation group and do something about it.

I'm not sure what the GPs business structure has to do with it.

It is completely inappropriate for a receptionist to ask for personal/intimate information. People are generally intelligent enough to know what service they require. Incredible I know.

A simple "Can i make you aware the practice nurse can offer the following services..." should suffice in cases of doubt.

Privacy means my personal information is on a need to know basis not the practice's water cooler gossip, nor repeated loud over the phone after my name in a crowded waiting room.

People are generally intelligent enough to know what service they require. Incredible I know.

Anyone who works in healthcare will tell you this cannot be further from the truth. To a lot of people the doctor is the be all and end all of healthcare. You wouldn't believe the amount of people I've seen demanding a doctor take their bloods, most doctors are actually not that good at taking bloods, always ask for a phlebotomist since that's all the do.

My local surgery is currently running a campaign highlighting all the appointments wasted with GPS when a different health professional would have been more appropriate.

The receptionist at my surgery announced loudly the other day: is it "X(name of contraceptive pill)" you requested?...there were people in the room and behind me in the queue. So embarrassing. When they ask me what the problem is, I just say "it's personal".

This thread appears to be 11 years old!

However, it's triage innit?

Coming on to point out that this was started in 2005!!
Also be nice to the receptionists. They're only doing what they've been told to by the GPs. Their job is to make sure you see the right person in the right appointment slot. They don't really care about your rash or ingrown toenail.

See I don't get that hatesummer. Oh the horror, a woman is on contraception.

And who resurrected the zombie??? Teach me to not read the date.

I asked the receptionist for the doctor to come to the house. I phoned from my mobile next to my bed as I woke and felt like I was dying and couldn't stand. They said there weren't any house calls available and to take two paracetamol!
Next phone call was for an ambulance and I spent a few nights in intensive care with sepsis and pneumonia.
Now I just tell the receptionist 'I'd rather not say'.

CQC. Take a very dim view of receptionist asking you to divulge your personal medical issues to them and the waiting room full of people
They (and the GP) can get in big trouble for it
The best response is a polite but firm 'I'd rather discuss this with the doctor'