My GP receptionist's ask 'why' patients want to see their Dr as practise policy.

MissAdventure

Elusivebutterfly

I am surprised that so many people see Nurse Practitioner. I have only seen a nurse for vaccinations. Most appointments, and medication reviews, are carried out by a pharmacist and on the phone. Do other areas use pharmacists to replace GPs?

I've seen a pharmacist at my GP surgery.
All that happened was he had to call the gp in, so it seemed a waste of both their time, really.

I've seen a paramedic as well as the NP. He seemed very efficient, said due to his age and retirement coming up he wanted out of the shifts and being out in all weathers so he had this job at the surgery. He did reviews of medication and could also see patients.

I have been asked this a number of times and just politely say I will tell the Dr when I see him/her.

The receptionist asks to make sure you get the right appt. If it's personal you just say it's personal or sensitive and that should be enough

I'd like to know what oaths GP admin staff have taken to protect the patients' privacy. Mind you, they've always been able to read our records so any idea of confidentiality has only ever been illusory

We have to ring the surgery at 8am, the same time obviously as everyone else, which means you can never get through. No on line system. After waiting on the phone for 20 or 30 minutes a receptionist answers, but by then all the appointments have gone and you are invited to repeat the procedure the next day, or go to A&E if its urgent, or ring 111. Several days of this can be guaranteed to make you feel really ill. About every other week a message is circulated on the village Facebook asking us not to ring the surgery because they are overloaded, or most of the GPs are off sick, or the phone system is down, or the computer system has malfunctioned again. When you give up and phone 111 they invariably send you to A&E for a 6 or 7 hour wait. Getting to the stage of actually seeing someone at the GP surgery is a bit of a dream. Both DH and I have only been able to use 111 since Covid.

I went in wanting a doctors appointment, told the receptionist about shooting pain in my hip, she referred me straight to the physiotherapist, I told her I wanted the doc, as it wasn't urgent,the next doc appointment was two weeks away, however I could see the physiotherapist in two days, I opted for the physio and he was excellent, he could have prescribed or referred me to hospital or doctor, and if I'd have waited for the doctors appointment, he'd have referred me to the physiotherapist anyway! I was uppity about the triage system initially, but in this case it worked a treat.

All change at our surgery too.

Appointments must be booked online and with a QR code.
If unable to access that, then online request.

If unable to access either, then phone up and receptionist will fill out online form for you .
All,in all, it’s a lot of mucking about.

We are lucky. Order meds online. Phone, yes there can be a queue, but the majority of time, there is an option for you to stay in the queue and they call you back when it’s your turn. Likewise touch wood always managed to see the Dr the same day, going through Triage. A couple of times I’ve known what it is and took a photo and sent it and the Dr has rung back. On one occasion one Dr who was researching something for me rang me from home with an answer. Sometimes I’d like to move house and then I think how lucky we are with the Dr and change my mind…

I think it’s disgusting that someone without medical knowledge or training can decide if and when we see a Gp
I have tried many times to book an appointment on line only to see a message saying there aren’t any available.
I have received two letters and a text asking me to book an appointment with an HCA I have finally managed to get one in six weeks time

@Babs03 this is exactly the same where I live. Have been given the wrong advice/information at least twice by a nurse practitioner.

You can ask to speak to the receptionist in private. They should have an office or room to take you to for privacy

I had a very good reason for a doctors appointment a little while back but the waiting time was very long and 10 mins discussion would be useless so I took a deep breath and went private and the next day I was in the hands of a doctor for a whole hour. She listened to me carefully and asked lots of questions. She read the wodge of notes from my usual surgery and asked questions, wrote notes and in a nutshell she was amazing, very down to earth and so helpful. In fact she was right up my street. She encouraged me to write notes of how to improve my health and I've never ever had a doctor like her. It was the first time I've ever had a smile of relief on my face after talking to a doctor and it was worth every penny. If my problem comes back I know who to see! - so I'll start saving just in case!

I thought every GP practice now ask for details of why you are requesting an appointment. I used to find this quite embarrassing/intrusive in particular once when speaking on the phone to a young man who sounded about 14 who told me to ‘head on down to my local pharmacy’.
Availability of appointments was quite shocking for a long time round here but access has improved for those of us who are computer literate since they bought out an online form which I can complete in the morning. However this facility is only open for about 15 minutes at 7.45 am. You also phone up at 8 am - that involves joining a queue of an hour before it’s answered or you can ask for a call back but when they do call back they tell you all appointments are gone and to phone 111 - who then at the press of a button are able to to give you said appointment. ?!
I do find it annoying that after having told the receptionist the full details or filling out the comprehensive on line form when you get to see someone the first thing they say is …….. ‘What can I do for you today’ - I feel like saying take a look at the notes if you want to know 😬

Being a doctor's daugther and having answered the practice phone once I was an adult, I see this from the point of view of the doctor and receptionist.

They do understand that patients can feel embarrased having to mention upset bowels, menstrual problems, male impotence etc. and are not asking for the patient's reasons in order to embarrass anyone.

It is done, and always has been to assess how urgent the matter is. Anyone who has developed alarming symptoms that could be a sign of cancer or some other dangerous illness wants an appointment as soon as possible and the woman who fears she is miscarrying needs a doctor or ambulance immediately, whereas the mother who needs to discuss the fact that her 11 year old still wets the bed could wait til next week to see the doctor.

So please do not be offended by this question - if you know it will embarrass you to mention your husband's enlarge prostrate gland or your own incontinence, phone for an appointment, rather than dropping in to book one face to face with the receptionist. Or e-mail. Doctor's receptionists, the practice nurse or the doctor who reads you e-mail is dealing with a routine matter and is not going either to show your e-mail to anyone else or go around talking of your symptons. Doing so would cost them their job, after all, quite apart from being so unproffessional that they would never dream of doing so.

Definitely ninat474. Home visits, same day appointments, doctors actually on the premises. That was a reality not that long ago.

We all need to register at the practice on ‘Doctors’ (BBC). A different universe

I made an appointment over the phone to see a dr receptionist asked me what was it for . I said I have a lump that has appeared in my armpit. Oh it’s probably a bite, the receptionist said! I was furious and said oh you’ve been promoted have you, you are now a dr!

I can remember phoning to ask of I could just have a prescription, before covid, and it was most definitely not allowed.

I had a blood test which showed my iron level was a bit low. A nurse practitioner gave me a prescription for medication. I read the leaflet inside and it told of interactions of drugs that could not be taken with this particular medication. I was on two of them.
How can a nurse be as knowledgeable as a pharmacist or doctor after doing a course.
And don’t get me started on the infrequent siting of the lesser spotted general practitioner, whose habitat obviously isn’t its place of work. Covid definitely gave them a new way of (not) working.

If you ring GP, you have to go through triage. Have to explain to receptionist what the problem is and then GP will ring you and if you are lucky you will win the surgery visit lottery. Not allowed to send photographs which surely would speed up consultation. Not allowed to see only female GP unless my male GP (who is dreadful) gives permission. Anything which is embarrassing to discuss, I self-medicate. Awful situation. Would happily see a nurse or GP practitioner for minor female problems and reassurance. Wish they had a post post menopause clinic for over 60s.

I have discovered that if treatment is urgent, 111 is the best number to call. The operators have without fail offered precise and timely support. (Urgent but not a complete emergency). 111 will contact the gp and arrange for an almost immediate appointment if needed.

Neither of us see the doctor often thankfully but my husband had a really nasty cough for a few weeks just before Christmas last year. I nagged him to call the doctor which he did and they arranged for someone to see him at 4pm that day, he was examined and given a 7 day supply of antibiotics which didn’t have much effect and in the end it cleared up. I haven’t needed to see a doctor since before lockdown. Out DIL is with the same practice and sadly she is living with cancer since May last year, the doctors, nurses and the pharmacy next door to the surgery have all been absolutely wonderful to her, she gets immediate attention.

In my surgery the receptionists sit at the back of an office with a window for the patients.
When I have approached the window one receptionists in particular remains at her desk across the room and asks me to state what I want.
I find this extremely rude and have no intention of raising my voice so that she can hear so I cup my ear and pretend that I can't hear her. Then has to leave her desk and come to the reception window.
A lot of receptionista behave like little gods. After all they are clerical and I wonder what training they have to judge my complaint.

I haven’t needed to see a doctor for ages🫰but just out of curiosity I went to the website to see if I could book an appointment online. It highlighted the date I was looking at and a box appeared saying that there was no appointments available for that site. When I clicked on the box to cancel it I was sent back to the homepage with no option to try another date. The box appeared immediately the appointment page appeared, so I couldn’t choose any dates other than the first one. So it appears that I have to ring if I want to see a doctor. So much for modern technology.

Babs03 we have the same in our area.
I often email to request an appointment but always the email answer is we don’t make appointments by email.

When I’ve tried to request an appointment by ringing at 8am, once with RSV last Christmas and with an ear infection last July, was told once to go to A&E.

I’ve not had a face to face appointment with my GP since Dec 2019.