Who reads and triages e-consults?

[tissueboxandcandles]

Just that really. I have just discovered that e-consults are read by receptionists at my GP practice. I did one recently about a particularly sensitive subject (only way to get an appointment in reasonable time) and the receptionist rang me to discuss and book the appointment.
TBH, I was embarrassed at the thought that she had read my somewhat detailed consult. (I remember her from when our DC were at primary school and I am just not comfortable).
Does anybody work in GP?
Is this usual practice?
Frankly it has put me off using e-consults in future.

But they are not bound by a governing body. They will not be struck off if they break codes of conduct. They are just random people who ‘promise’ not to blab. If they lose their job they can go elsewhere. It is completely different.

Exactly. She was one of the biggest, loudest mouths in the playground.

Being a drama queen? Wow you just keep going don't you?

Where's the empathy to OP that she has had her most intimate details read by a person she did it wish to know.

It's not about the receptionist not caring about what they've read. The OP cares! And that's what we are talking about.

Thank you.
I am really worried about cancer and now I feel even worse.

This would bother me too. It's not that I'm worried that the receptionist would disclose the information, it's just the fact that they know! And you can say 'oh they don't care, they see hundreds of people's information all the time', but when it's someone you know (not necessarily well, but at some level), they are going to know something about you and more likely remember it. No, they won't say anything (probably), but they still know, and I don't want that.

I didn't even realise at first that the e-consult actually goes into my file, either. I don't want everything I write to be on there word for word, either. I'd rather phone now and make an appointment, and I hate phoning. But it seems better somehow. I can read what the GP puts afterwards and it's in hardly any detail, so that is preferable to me.

And she wouldn’t still be employed as a Medical receptionist if she was blabbing any work info outside of work.

It surprises some, but often some of the biggest apparent gossips are also some of the best with confidential information. They know what’s fair game and what’s not.

More widely, it sounds like you might benefit from updating your understanding on how GP practises and other medical services run. The vast majority of the record keeping, data management and administration is done by non clinical staff. The electronic systems all have notifications about that somewhere buried in the user permission and t&cs and gdpr stuff.

To work effectively with the health services these days you need to acknowledge that support staff are also professionals with confidentiality requirements etc. It’s a very different role to other receptionist jobs.

Yes, I agree with this.

Don’t be afraid to talk to your gp. Tell them what you need to. As @monicagellerbing, reception and admin staff see stuff every day in the course of their work, and they need to access notes to do their work. Ie. A prescription clerk will have a glance at your notes to see if a med review is due. Hiwever, they are bound by confidentiality in the sane way a gp us, so aren’t allowed disclose info.

If your neighbour, school mum etc works at the surgery, you can be ask for them to have no access to your notes.

They are trained!
It’s not like they are being read by the local village gossip.
Receptionists have always done basic triage, even back 30 years ago the receptionists answered the phones and booked appointments and if they felt an urgent appointment or home visit was needed, they booked it accordingly.

Receptionists get a lot of aggressive patients. They need to be made of strong stuff and will no doubt have strong personalities.
That doesn’t mean they will spread confidential information. They will see so many local people’s information, it just isn’t interesting to them.
This is an issue you are making lots of unjustified assumptions about OP and I think you are catastrophising. Give the receptionist some credit, she will have seen it all before.

That's nothing. Years ago when I'd just staretd going out with DH I was virtually forced into a referral to the GUM clinic at the hospital after first going to the Brook Advisory clinic as I'd been uncomfortable in the vulval area (and was too embarrassed to go to the GP). As soon as I mentioned I was in a new relationship, the Brook nurse insisted that it was probably an STD (despite me telling her we always used condoms and both of us had only had a few sexual partners)

Anyway, along I went to the GUM clinic at the hospital, got swabbed,and went back for my results a couple of weeks later. I checked in with the Receptionist and she went to look at a file across the room, and then actually shouted across the office to the desk I was standing at "Your gonorrhea is negative, your chlamydia is negative, your BV is negative......" while I stood there bright red wanting the ground to swallow me up as the whole waiting room could hear. Luckily a clinician came in the room and witnessed this and pulled her away and I knew she was being told she was out of order to shout out confidential information (especially of that embarrassing nature). She came back and apologised but still, there are some people who just shouldn't be working anywhere near patients if they don't have a clue about the basics.

I mean it's just commonsense to understand patient confidentiality.