Bloody doctor's receptionists.

GPs fine; receptionists OK except that they are in the hands of the practice manager, who is just not up to the job. She got very uppity when I suggested that it was time for her to move on; I didn't say where.

Merci!
I will start with "Nice", then move on via "compromised immune system" to stroppy!

How stressful for you. Insist on speaking to a doctor if you have to- and they really should find an emergency appointment in the circumstances, surely. Bonne chance.

I am slightly dreading trying to make an appointment for DH. tomorrow for Monday. He is scheduled for a colonoscopy/polypectomy next Friday at the Royal Free but has a chest infection which has lingered for weeks. At the RFH today he was given a new anti-b and advised to have his oxygen levels checked on Monday because if they are not better the procedure will have to be cancelled because it would not be safe to continue.
Seems quite reasonable so went online when we got back this evening only to find the earliest BOOKABLE appointment is in MAY.
So I am flinging myself on their mercy tomorrow when the phones open.

hope you feel much better soon x

Sorry, my spelling gene has run off and hid tonight.

I take my first post back today. I phoned the surgery this morning, 10am, asked to make an appointment. None for two weeks. I explained it was a chest infection and wasn't getting better. She said I could come for 11.30 when they were running an "all will be seen" clinic" but it's a speedeier consultation time. Good, book me in. I got there for about 11.20, totally packed waiting room, but was buzzed through within about 30 mins. Lovely doctor (my normal one), new antibiotics, anti depressants increased for time being, physiotherapy approved, onto the chemist. for 11.30. Absoultely brilliant.

Maybe the first lady on the first post had been having a stressful day. I will think twice in future.

Having been a Doctors receptionist for eight years until retiring I know how difficult the job can be. The receptionists do their best to try to help people. It is very often not their fault when they cannot get things done. I do know it is a very stressful job

There was a mistake with my review but the pharmacist and receptionists sorted it out with no trouble, gave me the meds and made an appointment for the review. Easy.

If we are going on holiday I give the pharmacist plenty of notice and he sorts it out. i have no idea what the process is, I don't need to know.

Mistakes happen everywhere but if everyone is pleasant about it there is not a problem.

Sorry - didn't mean to post twice - operator error.

I used to be a "difficult receptionist" in a busy GP Surgery and lived in absolute terror of one particular doctor's temper if I as much as suggested that an extra appointment be made in the case of something which sounded urgent or if a prescription was required outside an allotted time. All 4 GPs would state a time they would work from and to in a surgery session and how many patients they would expect to see and no more than they specified or else there was trouble. One GP would see each patient as quickly as he possibly could - I don't know how the patient had time to even sit down, whilst another doctor the patients called "The Stripper" would have each patient stripped down the knickers for anything at all even if it was a simple ankle sprain or similar. He invariably ran 2 hours late each session, which lead to a lot of complaining in the waiting room. This was in spite of set appointment times being given out to patients. I stuck the job for 2 years and vowed never ever to work in a GP practice ever again. Just a thought, many of the perceived petty rules etc are not made up by reception staff - they are usually pretty meanly paid and have to do as they are told!!

I used to be a "difficult receptionist" in a busy GP Surgery and lived in absolute terror of one particular doctor's temper if I as much as suggested that an extra appointment be made in the case of something which sounded urgent or if a prescription was required outside an allotted time. All 4 GPs would state a time they would work from and to in a surgery session and how many patients they would expect to see and no more than they specified or else there was trouble. One GP would see each patient as quickly as he possibly could - I don't know how the patient had time to even sit down, whilst another doctor the patients called "The Stripper" would have each patient stripped down the knickers for anything at all even if it was a simple ankle sprain or similar. He invariably ran 2 hours late each session, which lead to a lot of complaining in the waiting room. This was in spite of set appointment times being given out to patients. I stuck the job for 2 years and vowed never ever to work in a GP practice ever again. Just a thought, many of the perceived petty rules etc are not made up by reception staff - they are usually pretty meanly paid and have to do as they are told!!

Thank you Crafting that sounds a reasonable explanation but my friend did say the receptionist was not reasonable and they felt that was not acceptable, but always two sides to a story.

annsixty I don't know exactly what happened about your friends gynae appointment but I could guess at a possible reason for the mix up.

In a computerised appointment system at the surgery appointments are logged and appear on screen. Nurse phones in to say she can't come in as her child has broken his arm. Receptionist then tries to cancel the appointments by leaving messages on answer machines or trying to contact via mobile phone numbers. As the nurse isn't coming in that day her list is removed from the appointment screen. Another receptionist who starts work at a later hour looks on screen and sees no appointments and knows that the nurse is not in, hence the comments to your friend.

I'm not saying it is a proper excuse or that it is correct that this is how the system works on occasion, all I am saying is that it is possible the receptionist was telling the truth as she saw it.

jocork if the patient doesn't have a review with the GP then a lot of drugs would be prescribed unnecessarily, costing the NHS a fortune.
I think the GP surgeries are trying to crack down on this wastage.

My pharmacist tells me when I am due for a review, it is shown on the prescription. I can also see the details on my on-line med records.

I had my repeats set up to go electronically every month to the pharmacy but didn't realise they had to be reordered from the doctor every 6 months. So I went to the pharmacy to collect prescription 7 only too be told I'd had the last one! By then I was about to run out of one drug so emergency dash to surgery who provided a batch of six months of prescriptions as paper copies as they said it was the only way to do it at short notice. The receptionist seemed very put out to have to do it at all. Then I had to go back to collect from the pharmacy. Yesterday when going to collect my next one in good time before running out in about 5 days time I was told I couldn't collect until 3 days time as that is when the prescription is dated! So much for me being organised - the dates are really close to the running out date now which is a real pain and when I next go on holiday just before the prescription is due I won't be able to get it early so will run out while away so that is another thing to organise!

It certainly isn't all over the country.
Our local Medical centre is very efficient. The receptionists are cheerful and polite and will help all they can. ,
It can be difficult to get through on the phone at busy times, but you get through eventually.
Whilst non-urgent Dr's appointments with a specific Dr. may not be available at short notice, if the problem is urgent, you will be seen quickly.
I went with kidney pain a couple of weeks ago, the receptionist ask me to wait a moment while she spoke to a Dr., the Dr saw me within 10 min.

I would be hard pressed to know what could be improved, apart from having Dr's waiting for patients to walk through the door.

Again, our local hospital gets a lot of grief, but my experience has always been excellent.
I had to wait 3 weeks to see a consultant from the day I saw my GP, I received the appointment the very next day for a CT scan in 10 days time. I would not have done better had I gone private.

It is the same all over the country so something is going wrong somewhere. My friend in Linc's had an appt for a smear as she was having gynae problems. When she went the receptionist said she didn't have an appt and my friend said oh yes I did. No you don't the nurse isn't here today. At this point her H who is not a patient man got involved as he had been there when the appt was made.she was given an appt for two weeks hence. They went home and G rang the practice manager,she was given an appt in 2 days.
When she went the nurse said I am sorry I couldn't see you on Tues my little boy broke his arm at school and
I had to cancel everything to take him to hospital!
I assume the receptionist hadn't cancelled and lied to cover her mistake. They reported this but I don't know what happened after that. My friends left the practice.

Our once very efficient surgery is going to pot. The drop in centre in the village (there was often a two hour wait but at least you were seen) has been abandoned in favour of an appointment's only system with a two and a half week waiting period.

A month ago DH had an appointment cancelled at the last moment because the nurse had gone home sick. This was done over the phone so he was upset and angry to receive a DNA letter a week later!!

He then had an appointment made for last week for his routine B12 jab. I couldn't see the appointment on the patient log-in system and as usual the receptionist wasn't answering the phone so I made sure he took the appointment card with him as proof. There was a big sign on the door saying that no nurse or doctor would be on duty that day.

I've managed to get him an appointment for this Thursday which I'm praying will go ahead because he's as grumpy as hell when his B12 is overdue.

Fingers crossed.

I've just phoned the hospital to cancel an appointment with my cardiologist for tomorrow. I was leaving it til today so that I could see how the antibiotics were working out but I really am not well enough to go. I can't remember the last time I cancelled a hospital appointment, if ever. The appointments lady was very offhand and was curt in saying that the next appointment was September. Well, I'm not well enough to come, so it will have to do. What did she expect me to do, find a magic cure down the side of the settee, hold on, I'm sure I've put one down somewhere.

Crafting

I think your post is the first I have noticed that brings the government into the thread.

Having presumably read posts that say they have excellent doctors and practices, how do you suppose some manage and others don't if it is all down to the government.

Yup. I think all receptionists do. It's not all the GPs fault either. The pressure that the government put on the NHS ends up putting so much pressure on the GPS that they have no choice to run the surgery as a "business".

re Craftins message every word you have said is true well done you must work in the same type of Surgery as me!

Having been a receptionist for 20 years I can reveal shock horror that 9 times out of 10 we are acting on GP instructions. The GP will not face patients or say no to them but hide in their room whlis the receptionist deals with the matter on their behalf. Okay admin errors can occur but we cannot refuse a patient only the GP can do this, they also pretend to be out on housecalls so that they do not have to deal with difficult patients but are in the coffee lounge where they can sit and chat for up to 90mins while the admin staff carry on working. Our wages are a fraction of the GP's yet we cop all the flack . Tramadol is a controlled drug hence it cannot be phoned into a pharmacy. Please dont blame the receptionist for everything you as a patient may fail to realise that you are one of many and not the centre of the GP's universe!