Scottish GP Patient Experience Survey 2009/10, Volume 3: Findings from the Analysis of Patient Comments

4 Receptionists/Practice Manager

4.1 The group of comments which were identified as 'Receptionists/Practice Manager' was the fifth largest group; there were 2,655 comments (6 per cent of all comments). Although the patient comments comprised mostly of negative ones, the statistical findings in the national report showed that 94 per cent of respondents found the receptionist polite and helpful always or most of the time. As noted above, the difference may be partly explained by the fact that those who were less positive, tended to leave negative comments.

4.2 There were some comments relating to phoning to get an appointment which included complaints of having to tell the receptionist too much about the reason for an appointment. Depending on the wording of the comment, some of these have been coded as 'Receptionists/Practice Manager' rather than 'Access'.

4.3 The main themes to emerge from the analysis of positive comments relating to receptionists and practice managers were:

• general overall praise of manner and efficiency of receptionists and practice managers;
• reception staff recognise and know patient and/or family;
• praise for the efforts of receptionist staff to accommodate patient needs.

4.4 The main themes to emerge from the analysis of negative comments relating to receptionists and practice managers were:

• general overall dissatisfaction with manner and attitude of, or service provided by, receptionists and practice managers;
• amount of time taken to be acknowledged/greeted at reception upon arrival;
• being requested for information about the reason for appointment;
• confidentiality - concern that reception staff know too much about patients, especially in smaller rural practices;
• complaints that receptionists can be heard discussing patients openly in front of others patients; lacking discretion;
• comments that were overall very happy with their practice, but that the one area that let the whole place down was the receptionists/practice manager.

4.5 The positive comments left tended to be very general statements of satisfaction. In addition there were specific comments which tended to relate to one particular person or incident, or praising an individual action.

"Receptionists are great always willing to help."

"'In my opinion this is a very well run surgery led by a doctor in whom patients have very confidence. The staff of X practice and receptionists are efficient, helpful and interact very well with the people that they deal with."

4.6 The majority of negative comments tended to be fairly general, with a few recurring themes. One major theme was the attitude and manner of reception staff; in many of comments the receptionists were felt to be impolite or unhelpful and this was felt to be particularly difficult for patients especially if they felt unwell:

"Rarely found the receptionists polite or helpful and certainly not welcoming. They need to show a more sympathetic approach at the reception desk. They are the first point of contact. They should take a leaf out of hotel receptionists corporate smile, corporate behaviour."

4.7 Some comments also described how patients would be left standing at the desk whilst members of staff continued their own (often non-work related) conversations without even being acknowledged:

"The receptionists are not always ready to engage with patients - often I am kept waiting before any eye contact or communication with these people. Phone discussions appear to take priority over face-to-face discussion."

4.8 Some respondents went further and suggested that in some cases reception staff could benefit from undertaking 'customer-care' training.

4.9 Other recurring themes included 'access' and 'privacy within surgery'. In many comments patients felt that the amount of information that had to be revealed to receptionist staff when attempting to make an appointment was inappropriate. Concerns were raised by some about receptionist staff 'acting like doctors' who have the power to decide whether an appointment is required:

"I don't like when you phone for an appointment and the receptionist acts like the doctor, let the doctor determine what's wrong with you not the receptionist."

4.10 In the theme of privacy, some respondents expressed concern about patients hearing too much about them at the reception desk:

"On some occasions I feel uncomfortable at the lack of discretion when the doctor's receptionists divulge personal medical information in front of other patients."

4.11 A problem highlighted by some patients living in small towns or villages was reception staff having access to information about people, with whom they live in close proximity.

Summary

4.12 Six per cent (2,655) of patient comments related to the theme of receptionists/practice manager. These comments were generally more negative than positive. This is in contrast with the survey results in the national report where receptionists received positive feedback. The main issue raised in the negative comments concerned the attitude of some reception staff as well as concerns about having to disclose too much health information at the reception desk.