Robert MacGibbon recalls his conception of the receptionist role

The wider team 

I envisaged that the receptionist would be much more empowered, not just to ‘I can make you an appointment for a doctor in three weeks’ time,’ or something, you know, kind of negative way that – good reception work is so important and that’s kind of navigating a practice, and I’ve been involved in designing Health Centres and it’s very difficult to make the reception desk as confidential as possible, and yet open, and it’s a big problem that.  But for the receptionist to pick that up, and say, ‘Look, I think you need to talk about this, separately, can you come round the corner?  And I’ll leave the desk here and I’ll come and talk to you about that.’ – obvious things, like getting a cervical smear test done, or I don’t know, sex, or mental health, all these things which people come to the doctor every day with. So I think we GPs could have done better.  I know that my own practice, the reception desk was completely open.  I wouldn’t particularly, I might feel embarrassed about some rather more intimate thing, about peeing at night or something, you know, you know, everyday things, or even when I come to College, and we haven’t done enough on that, of reception work.