1. Township 1 & 2 Neighbourhood Wide Receptionist Forum Julie Coakley, Practice Manager, Charnock Medical Centre Helen Lenthall, Business Manager, Hackenthorpe Medical Centre

2. Background 11 Practices within Townships 1 & 2
Historically no collaborative working beyond Practice Manager level
No Support/Training for Reception Staff
No opportunities to raise issues/concerns
No opportunities to share good practice

3. Concept
An opportunity for Receptionists from 11 practices to come together and share best practice, develop their talents and be an important cornerstone in the development of Neighbourhood working.

4. The Forum Bi Monthly – 2hrs – Birley Health Centre
Facilitated by Neighbourhood Leads (Julie and Helen) – Ultimately this will be self managed
Informal and Relaxed
Opportunity to share common challenges around the role
Share what works well, with a view to sharing and adopting good practice across the Neighbourhoods
Within Townships 1 and 2, practices are starting to share knowledge and expertise.

5. What Works Well? Monthly meeting with doctors and nurses
Deal with complaints at the front desk before it becomes an issue
Team work
Significant events meetings
Have a complaints committee
Have a P.A. supporting the duty doctor
Just get on with the job when covering for annual leave or sickness
Daily rotas for receptionist to give them a variety of duties
Feel they give a personal service to patients
Have nice patients
Have support of the practice manager
Text Messages from patients to cancel appointments
Go above and beyond for patients
Caring, very receptive
Buddy system so if a receptionist is off then they have someone to ring to cover
Are well organised so others can take over
Multi skilled
Support each other
Daily comms cells, all teams including receptionists
Socialise outside of work to build better relationships

6. Issues
PLIs when doctors and nurses go to PLIs receptionists are just left to carry on working, nothing for them
Small working areas
Pressure at holiday times and sickness leave to cover on reception
Booking ambulances and ambulance wait times
Lack of appointments. Not just on the day but 3 to 4 weeks before a routine appointment. (Not a problem in all practices)
Transport appointments, getting patients an appointment to suit the transport
Requests from pharmacies
Stressful !!!!
Huge demand for prescriptions
Receptionists giving results to patient without additional clinical information, patient asks questions that receptionists cannot answer
Demanding, abusive patients and the support from managers and doctors when dealing with the patient
Controlled drugs requests and process for collection
Number of telephone calls
Patients queuing outside the practice first thing in the morning
Patients not using touch screen to book arrival
Patients who DNA
Lack of flexibility with receptionists to cover annual leave and sick leave
Missing prescriptions
Variations on how doctors work within the same practice

7. Evaluation Feeling that we could learn from each other
Would like this meeting to carry on
A refreshing change to be included
Sharing views (open and honest)
We’re not on our own
The offer of a talk on stress management to be taken up
Lots of good ideas mentioned in the group
Needed more time to start addressing issues
If not the reception supervisor attending it may be difficult to cascade to others at the practice
Thoroughly enjoyed
Lots of eye opening conversations
Would like training on dealing with aggressive patients but also a protocol on how the patient is then handled by doctors and managers.
Monthly meetings, with more time
I was reluctant at first but now feel differently
Visit each others practices to learn differently ways of working
Feeling that we could help each other
More structure for future meetings
Realisation that all practices have similar problems
To see so many attendees was positive
We are all in the same boat
If the meetings continue on a monthly basis, have a topic of the month

8. Next Steps Continue to build relationships - Social Event
Continue to develop Concept
Address concerns/Issues
Support implementation of Care Navigation
Training
Buddying