I did refrain...

daffy2

but oh, the temptation. A message on my phone asked me to ring the GP surgery which I duly did. Receptionist asked for my name and then asked 'and how are you spelling that'? Err.. same as usual? With difficulty? By reading it off a prompt card? Bit of fiddling with computer and then 'and what are you ringing about?' As I had already explained about the telephone message I did permit a smidgeon of impatience to surface to the effect that I didn't know as the message didn't say(standard policy as they don't know who may pick it up).Eventually we established that it was to do with the results of a blood test and that I needed to make an appointment to speak to a doctor about them - 'but it's not urgent or anything to worry about'. Fortunately as it's about VitD levels I can accept that at face value, but otherwise it has never seemed to me to be an especially reassuring thing to say.

dreamdaisy

I had this recently - a letter from the surgery saying that 'the Doctor' (which one? There are nine there at the surgery) wanted to talk to me about my recent blood test results so I rang and made a telephone booking for 'the Doctor' to call. He duly did and opened the conversation with 'You wanted to talk to me.' Grrrrrr. He then told me that the test was fine and there was nothing to worry about. Two days later a letter dropped through the door saying that 'the Doctor' wanted me to repeat the test.

Left hand - right hand - admin systems - too many people in the know - not enough people in the know. What a merry-go-round it all is! Well done on behaving as politely you did, Daffy, but it is exasperating at times, no? DD

barbara12

daffy..its a crazy world we live in...I find it happens at the hospitals..when they open with can I help you ..I bite my tongue or I would say I hope so or I wouldn't be here..good luck with the results......

bubbadog

I had that same letter about my blood test, but it said your Dr. There are 11 Dr's in our practice and the surgery is being extended at the moment so the seating area is very tight so I hate going there! And when I ring the surgery it is like how you said it DD like they are reading it off a sheet. I'm lucky as a friend of mine works at the surgery so when she answers the phone soon as she recognises my voice it's 'How are you pet!!' and it's how the receptionists should be more relaxed but still asking questions.

villier

Been down that road as well Daffy, good on you for holding it together...........Marie xx

stickywicket

Well done, daffy A month or two back I got a letter from my GP saying my 'annual rheumatology check up' was due and would I make an appointment. This puzzled me a bit as I'd never had an annual rheumatology check up before but I did as bidden. When I walked in he asked "What's the problem?"

daffy2

Well that was a waste of time for all concerned thanks to useless reception staff.I had to wait 65 minutes to see the GP( the downside of being thorough during appointments) and then after a lot of toing and froing looking at notes on the screen it transpired that reception should have called me on 4th November to speak to the GP on one of 2 days she specified that week. Two weeks later, on the 18th, they get round to calling, by which time the reason for speaking to the GP(to discuss whether I really needed to have the expensive VitD test or whether a cheaper alternative would do - I think she must be responsible for practice finance) had been pre-empted by my appointment with my own GP and blood being sent off for the test.
She was not a happy bunny - I would like to be a fly on the wall when she speaks to the practice manager - and neither was I. By the time I left it was midday so I couldn't do any of my planned errands as I had to be back for a delivery.

dreamdaisy

Crikey - that defies belief. I know that mal-administration can occur and often does but that is a doozey of an error. What a waste of your day though, I hope the delivery arrived as planned. DD

Boomer13

Oh dear! :roll:

My doctor's office reception never call for follow-ups on bloodwork, or any kind of test results, even if they are asked to by a doctor! The doctors have complained to me, so I always call and ask if I need to come in.

My husband recently had a biopsy (at a different clinic ) and had his results lost. If we hadn't called the clinic, it seems, wouldn't have even known they were missing :? With his experience and my own, we can't help feeling it's pretty common.

I'm not really ranting about it, I just fail to understand why things can't be run so there is double checking done and communication between staff so these gaffs don't happen. I worked in a veterinary hospital for 12 years and we rarely missed anything, but we had double checks on all labwork, and reminders in the computer for absolutely everything. So, it is possible

daffy2

Something that did make me smile about the whole sorry episode was the GP saying - 'well I can see the message was sent, but it seems to have got lost in the quagmire of reception'! I've just added it to the saga of life at that surgery, along with such gems as... a letter from the doctor clearly marked in large letters on the envelope 'please phone patient today to come and collect this' sat in a tray until I came for an appointment some weeks later and the GP asked if I'd had it....., and another occasion when the GP asked me to make an appointment to see him sometime in the 4 weeks before Christmas and the receptionist refused, saying they were not booking appointments until second week in January! That latter incident was one irritation too many and I contacted the practice manager with whom I had an interesting(in a good sense) talk.
The delivery happened but not quite as expected and very late in the day, so I'm going to have a busy Saturday morning getting today's stuff done as well as what I'd planned for the day.

maria09

Hi
Well I must be one of the lucky few my GP practice has only 4 doctors and has the personal touch too
My GP rang on Wednesday and asked if I could come in earlier for my appointment yesterday she didn't get the receptionist to call very impressed also the same GP rang my daughter to tell her what her blood results were
Then in my appointment yesterday at the end she asked me how my daughter was doing and she wished she could do more to help her
She's such a lovely GP I really hope she stays saying that the other 3 are really good too
Maria

stickywicket

It sounds as if they need a new Practice Manager. It's not enough for the docs to be good if it all goes pear-shaped after that.