"Gp receptionist"

I was attending an appointment at the GP. As I waited, a man came in, clearly requiring assistance (looked very sad, had bandaged hand). He said he had been to a&e and had been sent to see a doctor urgently. Immediately the receptionist said this wouldn’t be possible.

He was clearly asking for help. She asked what it was regarding. Initially the man said, his hand. She said right away that he couldn’t see a doctor for that and required the treatment room. At that point the man repeated that he had been told to come straight here from a&e for his hand, but he had also been suffering extremely poor mental health. The receptionist repeated again that is wasn’t possible to see a doctor, and if he wanted to see a doctor he would have to call in the morning. This exchange happened a few more times and the man was clearly asking for help.

The man then said ‘I’m not sure I’ll make it till tomorrow’. He was once again told that she couldn’t help him and he should get an appointment with the treatment room. I was extremely concerned as I had heard a man say that his mental health had been very poor and he didn’t know if he would make it until the morning and he was sent away. The man then left looking confused  and desperate. I was extremely worried about this, to the point that I spoke to the man myself and advised him to reach out at the main reception on the ground floor and not leave until someone had helped him if he was struggling with his mental health.

I watched as the man spoke to someone else. I don’t know what happened to this man, as I was then called in for my appointment, but I feel that there was a complete lack of compassion on the receptionists part and there were several ‘red flags’ throughout the conversation where the man was clearly struggling severely with his mental health. I understand that people are busy, but even a leaflet or some contacts for mental health helplines would have helped.

I just hope that the man got the help that he needed. I would hope that front facing staff are trained in dealing with such a situation and know how to provide support, even by signposting/issuing a leaflet. This would not take more than 5 seconds and could save a life.