Meet the New Job. Same as the Old Job.
Jan. 16th, 2007 08:45 pmIn work news, one of the things I never really learned about ChelWest the last time I was there was that the entire catchment area is full to bursting with Entitlement Bitches. Seriously. I got yelled at so much today, for the following 'infractions':
1) Patient rung up telling me that he had broken his little toe some time ago and had been told that he had to wear something called an 'airboot' for six weeks. It's been maybe half that, more or less, and he's decided to try wearing loafers or something today. And apparently it doesn't feel too bad, and his next week is going to be busy or something, so he wants to know whether he can just stop wearing the airboot thing altogether. He therefore wants to "just talk to [surgeon A] for a few minutes - can you get him for me?" Um. First of all, I don't even know if the surgeon is in the hospital, much less on the ward. Second, even if he is in, he's likely too busy to talk to a random patient - and he wouldn't want to do so without his notes to hand anyway. This is why you make appointments to talk to doctors. Third, the surgeon will not be able to tell anything about this guy's condition over the phone. He would need x-rays and, failing that, at least a good hard look and prod at the foot in question. NHS Direct notwithstanding, there are things you just can't diagnose by phone. So I informed him that he would have to make an appointment with the surgeon to talk to him and that his best bet was to ask his GP for advice, since you can normally see them on a "next day service" basis. And he groaned and snapped and carried on like I'd told him that he had to climb Mount Doom and throw the One Ring in before he could talk to a doctor - apparently, actually making an appointment to see a medical professional who has other patients than this man is "just unacceptable" and "ridiculous".
2) Patient rang up a fair bit last week (I have the phone messages) saying how he and his GP never received any information about his last appointment. He started ringing on the 10th, according to the voicemail system. His appointment? Was on the 8th. Taking into account dictation time, typing time, post room time, Royal Mail time and GP's office sorting time, a week's delay is expected as a minimum, and this ridiculous man starts ringing in a panic two days after his appointment. And apparently it's completely my fault that I don't know where this letter is and can't check the system for it until tomorrow because IT can't just issue me a user ID without making me take at least a half-day's 'training course' on a system I used extensively a couple of years ago first. It's also apparently my job, as a temp, to know where everything is at all times. And of course, there's the fact that he completely misunderstood or deliberately twisted everything I said unless I repeated myself three times - somehow, "Call me at the start of next week and I should be able to let you know what's going on with that" led him to say, "So you will ring me when you have found my letter, yes?" ARGH. No, you stupid man; I have a backlog to sort out and do not have the time to track down your details and make a phone call to tell you that the letter's in the post. And your GP hasn't called us to complain despite your apparent whingeing at him, so maybe he or she knows something you don't, hmm? GO AWAY.
3) Patient's son rings up. Apparently, patient is having confusion about when her appointment is. I sympathise, but can do nothing about it until tomorrow because of the whole IT issue. So I get bitched out about that, and they ask about being seen privately. So I ask them whether the patient was one of [surgeon B]'s private patients. They couldn't remember, so I told them that if the patient had been seen privately, I couldn't help them but I could give them the private secretary's number, and to ring me back tomorrow if it turned out that they had seen [surgeon B] on the NHS. At which point I got yelled at for not knowing [surgeon B]'s private patient list ... never mind that it's illegal for NHS secretaries to do a doctor's private work.
These people spend ten minutes minimum on the phone bitching me out for things that are beyond my control. Sometimes they interrupt my attempts at being helpful to do it. Other times there's just this silence on the other end of the line like they expect that their bitching is about to pay off and I will just break all the rules because they are OH SO SPESHUL.
My stomach hurts worse now, and I'm tired and sore and miserable. Oh, and last night's BCNM squished us all (though maybe I should be proud of the fact that I was the last to die). So really, not in a great mood. But at least I get to break out the "Secretary" icons again...
1) Patient rung up telling me that he had broken his little toe some time ago and had been told that he had to wear something called an 'airboot' for six weeks. It's been maybe half that, more or less, and he's decided to try wearing loafers or something today. And apparently it doesn't feel too bad, and his next week is going to be busy or something, so he wants to know whether he can just stop wearing the airboot thing altogether. He therefore wants to "just talk to [surgeon A] for a few minutes - can you get him for me?" Um. First of all, I don't even know if the surgeon is in the hospital, much less on the ward. Second, even if he is in, he's likely too busy to talk to a random patient - and he wouldn't want to do so without his notes to hand anyway. This is why you make appointments to talk to doctors. Third, the surgeon will not be able to tell anything about this guy's condition over the phone. He would need x-rays and, failing that, at least a good hard look and prod at the foot in question. NHS Direct notwithstanding, there are things you just can't diagnose by phone. So I informed him that he would have to make an appointment with the surgeon to talk to him and that his best bet was to ask his GP for advice, since you can normally see them on a "next day service" basis. And he groaned and snapped and carried on like I'd told him that he had to climb Mount Doom and throw the One Ring in before he could talk to a doctor - apparently, actually making an appointment to see a medical professional who has other patients than this man is "just unacceptable" and "ridiculous".
2) Patient rang up a fair bit last week (I have the phone messages) saying how he and his GP never received any information about his last appointment. He started ringing on the 10th, according to the voicemail system. His appointment? Was on the 8th. Taking into account dictation time, typing time, post room time, Royal Mail time and GP's office sorting time, a week's delay is expected as a minimum, and this ridiculous man starts ringing in a panic two days after his appointment. And apparently it's completely my fault that I don't know where this letter is and can't check the system for it until tomorrow because IT can't just issue me a user ID without making me take at least a half-day's 'training course' on a system I used extensively a couple of years ago first. It's also apparently my job, as a temp, to know where everything is at all times. And of course, there's the fact that he completely misunderstood or deliberately twisted everything I said unless I repeated myself three times - somehow, "Call me at the start of next week and I should be able to let you know what's going on with that" led him to say, "So you will ring me when you have found my letter, yes?" ARGH. No, you stupid man; I have a backlog to sort out and do not have the time to track down your details and make a phone call to tell you that the letter's in the post. And your GP hasn't called us to complain despite your apparent whingeing at him, so maybe he or she knows something you don't, hmm? GO AWAY.
3) Patient's son rings up. Apparently, patient is having confusion about when her appointment is. I sympathise, but can do nothing about it until tomorrow because of the whole IT issue. So I get bitched out about that, and they ask about being seen privately. So I ask them whether the patient was one of [surgeon B]'s private patients. They couldn't remember, so I told them that if the patient had been seen privately, I couldn't help them but I could give them the private secretary's number, and to ring me back tomorrow if it turned out that they had seen [surgeon B] on the NHS. At which point I got yelled at for not knowing [surgeon B]'s private patient list ... never mind that it's illegal for NHS secretaries to do a doctor's private work.
These people spend ten minutes minimum on the phone bitching me out for things that are beyond my control. Sometimes they interrupt my attempts at being helpful to do it. Other times there's just this silence on the other end of the line like they expect that their bitching is about to pay off and I will just break all the rules because they are OH SO SPESHUL.
My stomach hurts worse now, and I'm tired and sore and miserable. Oh, and last night's BCNM squished us all (though maybe I should be proud of the fact that I was the last to die). So really, not in a great mood. But at least I get to break out the "Secretary" icons again...