GP Receptionist and Pharmacists

[Prizam]

Another thread on here reminded me of the sheer ineptitude of most Receptionists, specifically the ones at your local GP and Pharmacists... can usually add in your local post office lady too.

Surely it must be difficult to be that useless? I mean, when the appointment is right there, in flashing text on the screen and you can't see it. you must be actively trying hard to be unhelpful. And why is everyone met with a sigh, every phone call ignored for as long as possible and every single fking thing that is asked of you such a big chore?

Pharmacists must come in a close second. Take the order, pick pills up off the shelf. put in a bag and hand over. You're not manufacturing them back there Dorris so why the fk am I supposed to wait half an hour?

Post office workers were selected for the role by their breeding pedigree. E.g. Their mothers got shagged by a sloth. Not only because they all look like a bastardised hairy turd, but because no human can move that slowly, consistently for that long without giving up the will to live.

So P.H, I ask. why do these jobs attract the dimmest and most useless people in the world?

[CrgT16]

That’s a bit harsh and unfair to the ones that are efficient, etc. Remember dealing with members of the public is never easy. The abuse some of this people receive is way more you would accept as part of the job so give them some slack. I got one never had any issues in the places you refer.

[iphonedyou]

We give our postie a tenner at Christmas as he's great.

And our local pharmacy is just dandy.

[MikeT66]

The receptionist at our last GP was brilliant. She always made her own diagnosis over the telephone with a series of very personal questions to determine how quickly you should get an appointment... or if you walked into the surgery to make an appointment she would ask the same questions in a very loud voice so that the room full of waiting patients could also assist in diagnosis.

[louiebaby]

There's a little bit more to being a Pharmacist than is described in the original post.

However, like many professions, the ones that are good at it make it look incredibly easy.

[Brainpox]

I think they get jaded very quickly as members of the general public are often idiots and make the job ten times more work that it needs to be.

No excuses for being rude though. All of the assistants and dispensers at my local Boots pharmacy serve mainly in grunts, sighs and tuts. I've had a few rolls of the eyes before now as well. The only person there with a shred of personality is the pharmacist herself, but she's often too busy to do anything but throw medication at people.

One of the assistants there once told me I need to book in for a medication review. I said I'm still diabetic and will require my insulin for a little while yet. She still made it sound like it was compulsory. Maybe she knew I'd just finished a night shift and thought it was easy pickings? I didn't feel guilty about being short with her...

[Robbo 27]

Dental receptionist last winter was a classic. It was heavy snow and a lot of businesses were closing early, I had an appointment and wanted to check if they would be open, I gave them a call..

Me: Will you be open later due to the snow
Her: Sorry
Me: Will you be open later due to the snow
Her: Do you have an appointment
Me:Yes, I want to know if you are staying open due to the snow
Her: Sorry
Me: I have an appointment, will you still be open at 3PM
Her: Sorry
Me: Will you still be open at 3PM
Her: What name is it?
Me: (so tempted to say sorry) Robert Johnson
Her: Sorry
Me:Robert Johnson
Her: Can you spell that?
Me: Robert or Johnson
Her: Sorry
Me: J O H N S O N
Her: What did you say after J O
Me: H N S O N
Her: What time is your appointment
Me:3PM
Her: Is it 3.30?
Me: No 3PM
Her: Are you sure
Me: Certain
Her: Ah yes 3PM
Me: All I want to know is if you are going to be open at 3PM
Her: Sorry
Me: Will you be open at 3PM
Her: For your appointment?
Me: Yes, for my appointment.
Her: Probably
Me: Will you call me if you are closing early
Her: Are you an NHS patient or Private
Me: NHS
Her: Sorry.

Edited by Robbo 27 on Thursday 2nd May 12:05

[Zetec-S]

MikeT66 said:

The receptionist at our last GP was brilliant. She always made her own diagnosis over the telephone with a series of very personal questions to determine how quickly you should get an appointment... or if you walked into the surgery to make an appointment she would ask the same questions in a very loud voice so that the room full of waiting patients could also assist in diagnosis.

[bloomen]

If there's one particular woman present behind the counter in my local post office I immediately leave and come back another day. She's been there on and off for about 5 years now and someone buying a first class stamp still has her shaking her head, referring to bits of paper and muttering about how complicated it is.

If there wasn't a thick pane of glass I would've wrapped my parcel around her head a few times.

[Guvernator]

Those people serving snacks and confectionary at the cinema. It's a busy Saturday night, the film is about to start in 10 minutes, you pick the queue with the least amount of people in it and think only 3 people in front of me, no problem. How the hell can it take so long to grab some overpriced popcorn and fill up a plastic cup?

Grab a bag, fill it with popcorn, grab a cup, fill it with drink, take payment, 1 minute tops if you are being generous and yet I've seen the same procedure take about 10 minutes. I've seen glaciers that could move faster.

[red_slr]

Couple of months ago I was really ill with flu and had developed a rash and had been getting worse. Decided to drop into the GP (I have been to the GP <5 times in the last 20 years so thought it might be easier to arrange F2F) and ask if they had any appointments.

Spoke to the receptionist, yes no problem appointment on the 16th at 4pm? Perfect (4 days away).

Put it in my phone and off I go.

4 days later I turn up, same receptionist... hi I am here for appointment, you need to check in on the computer yourself, ok then.
Spend 5 minutes trying to check in on a rather sticky ipad... Nope. Go back, oh you must not be on the new system let me put you on.
10 minutes later I am now on the system, ok go and try again. Off I go... "unable to confirm appointment"... FFS....
Sorry its still not working, ok let me check... tappy tappy tappy,,, oh you are 4 weeks early your appointment is 16th April not 16th March. Heheheh….

WTF?!?!

You expect me to wait almost 5 weeks for an appointment are you serious?

Oh sorry. When is the next appointment, ideally before I am dead? Let me see, tomorrow at 915?

How does that work? Its just what the computer tells me.... riiiiiight.

[Blib]

I'm presently sitting in my dentist's reception. For the past 10 minutes the receptionist has been on the practice phone, chatting to her father about lost car keys.

[Johnnytheboy]

My dentist's receptionist is beyond criticism as she's ever so cute and knows how to flirt with a middle aged bloke.

Have you noticed that in public buildings where there are two receptionists, they only ever deal with one thing at once? i.e. one will be the main point of contact and the other will just sort of interfere?

Thank god my doctor has an online booking system. It must really annoy the old bags there, losing that power to prevent me seeing a GP.

[blueg33]

My wife is a dental receptionist and if you heard the amount of st they have to put up with from some people you would understand why sometimes they are are bit abrupt.

Examples:

patient - I have an appointment at 10.00am can I change it to 10.30
recep - sorry, we have no free appointments, the earliest I can offer is in 6 weeks
patient - you bh give me a fking appointment now

or

patient - i need an emergency appointment
recep - ok, whats the problem
patient - I had a filling come out
recep - when did that happen
patient - about 6 months ago
recep - sorry thats not an emergency
patient - de register me me now, your practice is rubbish, i'm going elsewhere

3 weeks later
patient - can I have an appointment please I have had a filling come out...........

or

patient - sorry I'm 20 mins late for the appointments for me and my 5 kids
recep - sorry, but the diary is full, we will have to rearrange for 3 of you
patient - i demand you see us
recep - I am sorry, you are late and the dairy is full
patient - you fking cow, you cant do that
recep - if youare going to speak to me like that, please leave
patient - f'in bh, i'm staying here until you see us
recep - please leave
patient - fk off
recep - I'll just cal;l the police then

or
patient - i need a crown on my back left tooth
recep - top left at he back?
patient - yes
recept - I am looking at your charts, you had that done 2 months ago
patient - no i didnt
recept - char shows you did
patient - I demand to speak to a dentist, someone who knows what they are doing
recept - ok I'll ask the dentist to pop down between patients, please wait 10 mins
patient - 10 mins? I want to see him now
recpt - he is with a patient

10 mins later
dentist - how can I help
patient - your receptionist is rubbish, I need a crown and she wont book me in
dentist - for the top left at the back
patient - yes
dentist - i did that 2 months ago
patient - oh yes so you did
dentist - so can we help with anything else
patient - can I book my next check up
dentist - please speak to the recptionist


Each of the above is from my wife's day at work yesterday. She only does 2 days a week, but all the receptionists get this crap all of the time. There is an appointment in the dairy every 5 mins, all day, so they are meeting and greeting people all the time, answering the phone, sending stuff off to labs, doing the NHS claim admin, doing denplan claims etc.

Its quite stressful.

[bristolbaron]

blueg33 said:

recep - I am sorry, you are late and the dairy is full
patient - you fking cow, you cant do that

I don’t normally point out spelling mistakes, but that one’s amoozing.

[LosingGrip]

MikeT66 said:

The receptionist at our last GP was brilliant. She always made her own diagnosis over the telephone with a series of very personal questions to determine how quickly you should get an appointment... or if you walked into the surgery to make an appointment she would ask the same questions in a very loud voice so that the room full of waiting patients could also assist in diagnosis.

I had that...quite loudly said that 'I'm worried because I'm pissing blood'. She went as red as my pissy blood.

louiebaby said:

There's a little bit more to being a Pharmacist than is described in the original post.

However, like many professions, the ones that are good at it make it look incredibly easy.

I won't show my girlfriend that post (although shes a dispenser not a Pharmacist), but there is so much more than I thought!

[geeks]

bristolbaron said:

blueg33 said:

recep - I am sorry, you are late and the dairy is full
patient - you fking cow, you cant do that

I don’t normally point out spelling mistakes, but that one’s amoozing.

beat me to it

Our GP reception and service is pretty st, however they are massively oversubscribed and due to the councils ineptitude its about to get worse as they keep building estates in MK but not adding any infrastructure such as GP surgeries!

[Guvernator]

geeks said:

beat me to it

Our GP reception and service is pretty st, however they are massively oversubscribed and due to the councils ineptitude its about to get worse as they keep building estates in MK but not adding any infrastructure such as GP surgeries!

It's the same everywhere. There is a proposal to build a school and 300 houses a couple of miles away from me. The roads are already very busy during peak rush hour times and the surrounding GP's and other services are oversubscribed but no thought given to additional infrastructure whatsoever as the council are too busy thinking about the money they will get from the developers.

[can't remember]

bristolbaron said:

blueg33 said:

recep - I am sorry, you are late and the dairy is full
patient - you fking cow, you cant do that

I don’t normally point out spelling mistakes, but that one’s amoozing.

Cud of you to pint it out for the rest of us.

[PAULJ5555]

I always turn up 10-15 mins late for the dentist because they are never on time so why should I be sat round wasting my time.

Hospital app with my son, we are sat waiting 25mins. 2 women stood chatting by the desk after 20mins they finish and one walks into a room. Bingo we get called into the room and I have to bite my lip as to not say anything, mainly because I needed help from the woman and telling her off would not have helped my case.


If you ran a business like that you would have no customers but its the NHS and were stuck with it.