GP receptionist

Deeec

I agree that receptionists shouldnt be allowed to filter patients - Maybe an extra charge for urgent appointments would make sense and turn off people from attending with minor problems. Also I think there should be a charge for medical card holders who want to be seen urgently. Extra charges make people think twice and think if they really need to see a doctor.

Getting an appointment in my GP practice is an absolute nightmare. You cant get to see a doctor if you are sick which is shocking - often the best they can offer is an appointment next week or the week after which isnt good enough when you are sick. They dont even seem to have the capacity to deal with patients who need to be seen urgently. You are advised to go to A & E or out of hours doctor which is clogging up their service and creating other problems. I went to the same practice as a child and there was never a problem getting an appointment - you rang in the morning and you would be seen that day. Our health service right from the bottom up is going backwards. Sick people had better care 50 years ago.

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119786208#Comment_119786208

A charge. So you want richer people to get priority.

People will all say it's urgent. It's like priority boarding on Ryan Air. It become over used then pointless.

50 yrs ago our population was 2.9 million and our life expectancy was much shorter. https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/IRL/ireland/life-expectancy

But the system can't cope with the demand. That I agree with.

The Hound Gone Wild

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119784874#Comment_119784874

General practice is a specialty in and of itself. There's no other type of doctor who will see a 3 month old with a chest infection, start an SSRI for depression, add on extra pain relief to a palliative care regimen and change a contraceptive pill due to poor side effects all before 11am on a Monday.

For better or worse GP receptionist are forced to triage due to the limited number of GPs available to take appointments. Something like 1 in 4 GPs are over 60 with nowhere near enough training places to keep up with demand. Someone has to make a call that gential herpes is more pressing a yearly checkup. Without this information how can you expect someone to attempt a triage and give out the last appointment of the day. Unfortunately it's been thust on people unqualified to do it, but that's the situation we're in. Running a medical system on a first-come-first-serve basis is one of worst set-ups I could possibly think of.

It's also important to remember that dealing with the general public is a nightmare as anyone working in a public facing role will tell you. Working with the sick general public is even worse.

You can see it in this thread, the creep of American snowflake consumer culture into Irish life and especially healthcare. People threating to report others to their regulatory bodies for doing their job as best they can. Putting people's professional registration on the line because you're mammy's special boy or girl and need it all done five minutes ago.

Primary care, especially general practitioners and pharmacists are burning out and leaving or worse not entering primary care at an astonishing rate due to the above. We're staring down the barrel of a crisis becoming worse ever year and have no solutions in place to deal with the root cause.

So in short give a vague idea to the receptionist so they do their best to give you an appropriate appointment. They don't care what's wrong with you and can see your medical record anyway.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119785973#Comment_119785973

Who said anything about volunteering additional information?

FFS, getting an appointment to see your doctor when you are ill should not come down to a battle of wills between the patient and a receptionist.

Deeec

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119786273#Comment_119786273

A small charge makes people think - even your so called richer people wont want to pay the extra if they're ailment is not urgent. It could help to reduce the amount of patients wanting to see a doctor urgently. I pay €60 per GP visit - I certainly wouldnt want to pay extra if my ailment wasnt urgent. If I really really needed to see a doctor though I would pay it.

What do you propose to rectify the issue. Is it acceptable that a sick person cannot get to see their GP because appointments are clogged up with people with minor issues?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119786149#Comment_119786149

Urgent does not always mean "emergency". Urgent to me, would be needing treatment to prevent something turning into an emergency I would need to go to hospital for.

"A stitch in time, saves nine".

I wouldn't even waste my time trying to see my GP in an emergency. Pre-covid, you could call and reasonably expect to be offered a face-to-face appointment within 1-2 days. Post-covid, suddenly, it's minimum one week and a phone consultation at best - and then maybe you'll be offered a face-to-face consultation, which won't be for another week after the phone consultation.

It's not good enough, and it's no use if a patient needs treatment quickly. It's not only the practice I attend either, there have been similar threads with others experiencing the same issues.

I'm actively looking for a new GP, after 40 years with my current practice, as I feel they are putting patients at risk.

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119786451#Comment_119786451

I'm just pointing out its not a barrier for people who can afford it.

You need a filter and the medical secretary/receptionist is currently that filter. The examples people are giving here in no way justify saying its doesn't work.

The reason people are struggling to get in, is because the system is completely overloaded.

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119786412#Comment_119786412

Sounds more like battle with people's own stubbornness to get their own way.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119786563#Comment_119786563

Yes, because sick people are really just enjoying begging GP receptionists for appointments.

Deeec

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119786533#Comment_119786533

The receptionists are not qualified to filter patients though so its a system that doesnt work. Its only a matter of time (if it hasnt already happened) before a patient dies because a receptionist decided that person was not deserving of a GP appointment.

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119786567#Comment_119786567

Except its not just an appointment. Its an urgent immediate appointment. How do you think it should work. If there are 40 slots and 60 people saying their appointments are "urgent" what then...

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119786686#Comment_119786686

I'm sure lots of people have died because they decided to go to GP instead of A&E.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119786704#Comment_119786704

I've already said, direct the request to the practice nurse to make a call on it, or the GP themself.

It should not be left in the hands of someone who has no medical training. How many times does the same point have to be made?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119786485#Comment_119786485

What makes your appointment more urgent than anyone else’s at the Clinic?

Surely the answer to that question lies in the symptoms you are experiencing.

You will have to accept that all GP clinics are now bursting at the seams, many are refusing to take in new patients. People like you who think you should be seen before others are the bane of Receptionists and GPs alike, so if you feel that you will be better catered for elsewhere, everyone is a winner.

If you want to be seen urgently, help yourself by explaining why you need an urgent appointment, and why you need to be prioritised. Otherwise you will just be given the first available appointment. If you have a serious problem, do you want someone who has a minor issue, but feels their problem is “urgent”, being given an appointment before you? How do you think the Clinic distinguishes priority between you with a serious problem, and them with a minor one, if both refuse to tell the person they speak to on the phone why an urgent appointment is necessary?

Graces7

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119785950#Comment_119785950

How many eg old folk are online?

Deeec

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119786753#Comment_119786753

I think you are missing the point though - How can a receptionist decide whether that headache you have is urgent or not? - They cant because they are not medically trained.

Graces7

I now have far better care out here offshore. One practice has a dragon receptionist but mine is polite and efficient. Luck of the draw! It is incredibly ... healing..

Strumms

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119785325#Comment_119785325

100%.

It also should noted that over 13 hours after this thread was started the OP edited their opening post down to a single line. From about 40 lines . 😵‍💫 It’s somewhat odd.

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119786766#Comment_119786766

Run with that example.

So do you think all headaches should be flagged as urgent.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119786766#Comment_119786766

Again, it is you that is missing the point.

Receptionists follow protocols put in place by GPs. Most are very experienced, and will pass on patient information to the GP. If you don’t want to give that information, then the Receptionist has no basis for prioritising patients and when the GP asks for the details of the symptoms, there aren’t any.

I suspect most here think that they are one of a few patients phoning a Clinic each day for an urgent appointment. The phones literally never stop ringing with patients who all feel their problems are urgent. There has got to be policies in place for prioritising patients, and it is these policies which Receptionists follow. Incidentally, medical receptionists are qualified professionals, many have worked for years so have seen, and heard it all before.

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119786744#Comment_119786744

Most GPs don't have practice nurses on reception. Or indeed on site most of the time.

You're basically saying a doctor needs to be the receptionist. If they have validate every call over the phone.

Basically hire more nurses and doctors when it's impossible. I dunno how many times that point has to be made.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119786753#Comment_119786753

I have no problem discussing the nature of my illness with a medical professional. A receptionist is not a medical professional and is not qualified to assess my symptoms.

By the way, in my GP practice at least, this request to disclose the nature of your illness when booking any appointment (not just urgent ones) is a new thing since covid.

If they didn't need to ask these questions to make appts in 2019, then why the need for them now.

And also, by the way, this thread is not about me, I am not the OP, so quit with the personal digs.

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119786833#Comment_119786833

Because resources have got even more stretched. It's not a mystery.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119786833#Comment_119786833

They will have no problem giving you the first available appointment in that case. Might take a month, but then you can discuss your problem with the GP.

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119786794#Comment_119786794

I think the op over shared. Seemed stressed and over thinking it to be honest.

Deeec

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119786806#Comment_119786806

Potentially a headache can be serious - it could be indicative of a brain bleed, tumour, meningitis etc or it may be just a migraine. So how can the recptionist decide how serious this is.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119786853#Comment_119786853

My GP practice was full and not taking on new patients loooonnnngggg before covid ever happened.

"We're so busy" is always the excuse, yet when you do manage to get an appointment, the surgery waiting room is empty.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119786879#Comment_119786879

By asking about other symptoms of course. Or do you think everyone who has a headache or a hangover should get an urgent appointment.

Jesus wept, Receptionists have heard all this before and will pass the information you give onto the GP.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119786862#Comment_119786862

Yeah? IIRC your wife is an A&E Doctor, is she not?

How many people does she see a year who should not be in A&E but have been refused appointments by their GP practice?

How many people does she see a year who have to be admitted, which could have been prevented if they'd been seen and treated by a GP in a timely manner?

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119786879#Comment_119786879

You didn't answer the question.

I'm just curious what would you suggest.