GP receptionist

shaun_from_Africa

Last year I had to apply for a new passport, and for this I needed the photograph to be certified. I though that getting my GP to do it wouldn't be too much of a problem as I had been with him for over 8 years.
I spoke to his receptionist who told me to leave it with her, and that if the doctor had time he would do it "sometime in the next week or so", and that if he did, there would be a charge of £15. (not bad for what would have been about 1 minutes work).

As it wasn't certain that it would get done, I told her not to bother and I would find someone else to do it. (My dentist, who didn't charge anything)

flyer64

I'm pretty sure you need to jump through ethics hoops before you can do this. If you landed in my hospital department without prior arrangement you'd likely feel the wrath of my reception team who frankly have heaps to do and not enough time to do it. If you phoned ahead and were fortunate enough to speak to someone who could actually make the decision you'd likely be told no thanks, we've too much to do. I sympathize, I really do. I sent out a questionnaire in my studenty days and got a 75% return which I was well pleased with - but I stuck the stamps on myself. I'm sure you could afford stamps if this was important enough.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Not to mention that you may be a perfectly nice medical secretary/practice administrator who knows full well that not only is the boss absolutely snowed under with patients, PCT and students, but will tear your head off if you dare to dump 'more blo0dy crap from students on the desk, when you know damn well that we don't do this nonsense for them'. (not all doctors are polite, after all)

Or the better days, where he would take one look and chuck it straight in the bin at your feet.



(by the way, if the doctor concerned wants you to, you are perfectly entitled to open anything with Private and Confidential written on it - there's no law to say otherwise, and they usually have better things to do than open letters from drugs reps and angry patients, who are the two groups most likely to use that tactic.)



It's not like the old days anymore. The doctor isn't God, the doctor doesn't rule all they survey. The PCT and the GMC and the Insurance company and, in hospital, the managers and the committees and boards all have inputs that cannot be ignored. So the last thing a doctor needs is another student wanting someone to do their research work for them without approval, prior knowledge of the person, their legitimacy or even their ability, as a poorly written and potentially unethical survey could result in distressing patients and bringing the whole practice under scrutiny.


So being sent off with a flea in your ear by the woman on reception - whose job spec will include the phrase 'acting as first point of contact between the public/other staff and the..' consultant/team/etc - is actually part of her job and probably saved you from having your head torn off by an overworked doctor who has probably had about 5 of these get through this week already even after two thirds have been fielded.

Snakeeyes21

VfM4meplse wrote: »

I take your point - of course it's not for practice staff to withold requests from GPs, but it is their job to prioritise the GPs workload. What you will find is that GPs are so overloaded with work they will only do what they have to on the time available, this is unlikely to include anything that they are not paid to do unless they are particularly sympathetic.

Personally I never take the time to complete academic surveys etc unless the student has taken the trouble to confirm prior ethics committee approval.

Maybe they should start working fulltime for the generous pay they get instead of part time then Then they can be at the call of students who want help with their homework and people who need passports photos signing

pinkichiban

I can understand the work load, I can understand the GP's not wanting to complete the from. What I don't understand is the level of rudeness. I amended my title this morning as the rudeness had been contagious. I has sunk as low as her, by being aggressive and nasty. Post in haste, repent at leisure.

dinglebert

pinkichiban wrote: »

I seem to be on this vent forum all the time these days!

I am a Nursing student and am doing an individual research project. I have some questionnaires (5 simple yes/no questions) which I was hoping my local GP surgery would help with. Could I get the receptionist just to pop then into the GP's box? She was so obstructive and obnoxious. I appreciate that GP's are busy and may not have had the time or inclination to help, but surely they can make their own mind up? Maybe I am being unreasonable in expecting other health professionals to help a student out?

Think you will find throughout your career that GPs do not go out of their way to help fellow professionals and will want the money before making the change for most things.

fluffnutter

PinkLipgloss wrote: »

I understand your frustration however the poor woman was probably seriously harassed dealing with an never-ending stream of telephone calls demanding appointments asap as well as patients entering/leaving the surgery (attending appointments, making follow up appointments, collecting prescriptions etc).

I definitely don't envy her!

Not that I'm arguing that receptionists aren't busy... but that's the job they've chosen! I don't know why some of them can't try to do it a little more graciously. It's a job that needs good people skills and some of the old bags I've come across over the years seem to have anything but. There's a peculiar type of faintly sanctimonious, unhelpful battleaxe that seems attracted to working as a GP receptionist.

When I'm in tears because my husband's ill in hospital, no one knows what's wrong with him, I'm not sleeping and I'd like to see my doctor, I don't need laughing at when I ask if there are any appointments available. If I'm standing in front of you, it wouldn't do you any harm just to look up, acknowledge I'm there, smile and perhaps say "I'll be with you in a tick" as opposed to completely ignoring me for 10 minutes, then glaring when you finally do look up from whatever pointless task you're doing. If you don't like the general public, do something else! All the doctors and nurses at my local practice are absolutely lovely - understanding, professional and, above all, kind. The cows on the front desk are the total opposite.

Apologies to all those nice GP receptionists out there. I'm sure there are some! They just don't work at my local practice.

melancholly

just to balance it out, you can get some pretty rude male medical receptionists too

(i'm lucky, only ever had lovely receptionists at what must be 4/5 GPs i've been at).

OP - however nice or otherwise the receptionist may be, don't expect a great response rate: 50% would be impressive. i agree with the other posters that i'd be expecting ethical approval (and if any doctor has happened to sit on an ethics committee, be prepared for them to contact someone if you haven't).

aliasojo

fluffnutter wrote: »

Apologies to all those nice GP receptionists out there. I'm sure there are some! They just don't work at my local practice.

Nor mine.

I've just been spoken to like I'm an idiot by our local girny receptionist who gave me a cancelled prescription.

I didn't know it was cancelled until I took it to the chemist to get filled. Obviously the pharmicist couldn't fill it and I had to go back to the surgery. She told me it was my fault it was cancelled as I hadn't picked it up. I told her I have never had a prescription I hadn't picked up, but she told me that wasn't possible and I should be more careful next time. I was furious. I took the new one to the chemist who told me I was far from being the only one who'd had problems.

As it happened, I still had the box of tabs from the previous prescription complete with name label and date (which was the same as the cancelled prescription) I took it to the surgery to prove I had got and filled the previous one. Turns out 2 had been printed out by error, I got one the other was supposed to have been shredded.

Did I get an apology? Nope. Just a ' oh well at least we know now'.

As Fluffnutter says above, this is a role with a high degree of public interaction. You don't have the required skills for it, you shouldn't be in the job. Clearly her admin wasn't up to much either.

giraffe69

In my surgery there is a notice to the effect that if you are rude to the staff you may be removed from the list. Entirely symptomatic of an industry that knows the customer has no realistic choice that this is a one way street.