"Fantastic clinical staff, shame about reception."

The clinical staff at the surgery are second to none.

However, I do find the majority of reception staff to be patronising, abrupt and rude?

I have been chastised for ringing at the wrong time for results, phoning the wrong number for medication queries and, when I have asked for appointments for myself or my family, questioned as to whether they are really necessary.

I find this particularly irritating as I very seldom attend, perhaps averaging an appointment a year, if that.

I am very unlikely to attend unless I feel there is real need.

I am also unaware of the various intricacies, such as times to ring for results or where to direct my queries, as I use these services so infrequently.

A simple polite redirection would suffice, rather than an abrupt rebuff.

Appointments,when available, are very inflexible and do not take into account other commitments that people may have.

I would also like to respond to previous surgery responses encouraging people to complain at the time about individual staff members.

I would suggest to management that it may not be that specific incidences merit a complaint but more that the general attitude and demeanour of reception staff is consistently poor. It is sometimes that individuals who have been in a role for some time become complacent.

I have noticed that more recent staff members have a much more professional attitude, and seem to find patients less of an irritant. Perhaps there needs to be an element of retraining.

It would be a foolish management decision to ignore so many reviews independently highlighting this issue.