"Rude receptionist, fantastic nurses."

On arrival the receptionist was rude and did not even smile. There was no “hello, how can I help”, no greeting of any kind, just looked up at my husband when he stood in front of the reception desk, as if he was an inconvenience. My husband said hello and that he was with our child who had an appointment and he then gave our child’s name, the receptionist then looked at the computer and proceeded to point at a door and then state “through that door” in an almost robotic tone. 3 emotionless words is all they uttered throughout their interaction.

This was unprofessional and not the behaviour I would expect of someone who works in any department but more so in an area where parents are likely to be upset or worried regarding their child’s wellbeing. A smile or a pleasant hello can make a huge difference to an already stressful experience and comes at no extra cost to the staff member.

In complete contrast, the 2 staff nurses we then met were smiling, friendly, warm and put our child at ease for the appointment. They took the time to chat during the appointment and take an interest in our child. I’d like to thank them for making our experience positive and I hope they are made aware of the impact they had on our visit and more importantly our child’s experience. 

I hope that the receptionist can try to put themselves in the shoes of people on the other side of the desk to better understand the impact of this attitude. My husband did suggest to me, as we waited through the door we had been directed through, that maybe this person was having a bad day. As a frontline NHS worker myself, I would argue that if your day is so bad that it affects the quality of care you provide then perhaps you should not be at work. Staff in a patient facing role are representing not only their own department but NHS Tayside as a whole. I have never greeted (or more accurately not greeted) anyone attending the department I work in, the way in which my husband was treated today.