...to be nice.
One of the favourite sayings of Mark and Lard in their time on the Radio One lunchtime slot a while back (before I jumped ship and headed for Ambridge). I know they're not there any more, but the saying holds true, and there seems to have been an outbreak of niceness in these parts today.
That's niceness in the warm fuzzy just-been-dipped-in-chocolate way not any of the other frankly rather more unlovely interpretations.
Exemplar one: midway through morning surgery. A woman attended to renew a prescription for eczema. In closing the consultation she volunteered an observation on the professionalism and patience of our reception staff. This is so not the typical view of GPs receptionists that I felt compelled to feed it back to them. The reason for her admiration related to our previously mentioned "Touch Screen" registration that allows patients to check in without the need to queue just for one of the girls to "Arrive" them on the practice system.
To anyone under 60 and with reasonable eyesight this system is a boon as it frees up the staff for things that need face to face contact and reduces their time standing about waiting to check in. Sadly many of our regular attenders do not fit this demographic, so for the past few days there has been a line of shuffling bemused patients at the screen needing help adapting to the new arrangements. The team have borne this with their customary aplomb, and this morning they were recognized for their efforts. Cue warmth and fuzziness.
Exemplar two: Roy has been struggling to come to terms with the loss of a parent some while ago. By December last he was plainly clinically depressed and in need of chemistry as well as counseling. He dabbled with antidepressants on and off until last month. More off than on in reality. Last month we had "The Talk" and he was finally persuaded to stick with the Prozac for a while. He has managed it. Life still has very few cherries to offer in his personal bowl, especially since he "celebrated" a significant birthday during the month which only served to amplify his sense of loss. Still he acknowledges that he fared much better for having had the meds. He is even willing to continue the course and to return for review in a couple of months. Meantime his recovery is giving him the necessary momentum to actively seek to better his prospects by looking for an apprenticeship. Again at the end of the consultation he took his prescription and headed for the door. As he reached the threshold of the consulting room he looked back at me and said "Thanks very much for this" nodding towards his script. Something that hardly ever happens for ANY medication and least of all for antidepressants.
Doubtless my normal whinging tone will be restored in the fullness of time, but just for today I'm doing very nicely thank you for asking.
8 comments:
wendz-- do tell him. he will appreciate it. I still envy him his 30 min appointments, but maybe not the 20.00 finish I find I'm often quite done in by 18.30. Citalopram is gaining popularity here too but I find it more fiddly to use. Prozac may be "old hat" but is much more a one dose suits all (OK not really all, but most) kind of drug.
All in all though you're probably much better off with the fizz ;-)
Madam chairwoman-- I know you can do such things, but it has sadly challenged a great many of my regulars, and the cut off does seem to be whether they were born before or after the last great european unpleasantness. Very sorry to have given offence, but there it is.
And after you were so nice to me the other day as well.
And now all the warm fuzziness is evaporating. Bum :-(
Is Doctor's Bum anything like Builder's Bum?
Madam Chairwoman-- Thankyou. I hope you enjoyed the remains of the day.
Wendz-- Yeees. Not thinking about death, especially one's own is generally a good thing. Not always easy to manage though. Glad you have found a way. Keep on not doing it, that's my advice. The thinking that is. Dangerous things thoughts....
z-- definitely not. In this trade if you expose that much flesh nasty mean nursies put jabs in it so this boy remains well covered at all times. Pert, firm, but well covered ;-)
I'm glad you've got good front of office staff. I love our local surgery, very well managed and effective. However... both my wife and our nanny are deathly afraid to call in fear of one of the receptionists. She has had both of them in tears (neither are in any way week willed women) after third degree grilling about whether the children really really do need to see the doctor. I can well imagine its a hard job, but there is a point.
boy-- "dragon" is the word most often applied to GP reception staff. It's true to say some of the "old guard" are still a little over protective of our precious time, but they are a vanishing breed, and rightly so. Hopefully our team now have more time to devote to sorting things out on the phone to everyone's satisfaction. That's certainly what we aim for.
Pert, firm but well covered? Mm, nice bum.
z-- it's often been said that modesty is the only virtue I lack ;-)
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