ArticleThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners2009
Front desk talk: discourse analysis of receptionist-patient interaction.
Article in The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Impact of the clinically oriented roles of a general practice receptionist: a systematic review with narrative synthesis.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2025Pooled it
- The Effect of Robot Attentional Behaviors on User Perceptions and Behaviors in a Simulated Health Care Interaction: Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2019Trial
- English general practice in a period of change: a mixed-methods study of staff and patient perspectives.BJGP open · 2026Article
- Primary care receptionists influence migrant access to healthcare by acting as street-level bureaucrats: a scoping review.BMC primary care · 2026Article
- Understanding language barriers at the registration desk of an after-hours clinic: a qualitative observational study.BMJ public health · 2026Article
- Understanding the contextual and causal factors shaping the work of receptionists in general practice: a realist review protocol.BMJ open · 2025Article
- Primary health care provider availability and accessibility: a comparison of responses from providers and their office staff, results from the Models and Access Atlas of Primary Care - Nova Scotia (MAAP-NS) population study.BMC health services research · 2025Article
- Exploring the barriers to cervical screening and perspectives on new self-sampling methods amongst under-served groups.BMC health services research · 2025Article
- Understanding access to general practice through the lens of candidacy: a critical review of the literature.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2024Review
- Don't be a nocebo! Why healthcare organizations should value patients' expectations.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- A quantitative assessment of the parameters of the role of receptionists in modern primary care using the work design framework.BMC family practice · 2020Article
- Receptionists' role in new approaches to consultations in primary care: a focused ethnographic study.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2018Article
- Exploring the clinically orientated roles of the general practice receptionist: a systematic review protocol.Systematic reviews · 2017Article
- Repeat prescribing of medications: A system-centred risk management model for primary care organisations.Journal of evaluation in clinical practice · 2017Article
- Protocol for using mixed methods and process improvement methodologies to explore primary care receptionist work.BMJ open · 2016Article
- Calling the GP surgery: patient burden, patient satisfaction, and implications for training.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2016Article
- Routine failures in the process for blood testing and the communication of results to patients in primary care in the UK: a qualitative exploration of patient and provider perspectives.BMJ quality & safety · 2015Article
- Patients' perspectives on providing a stool sample to their GP: a qualitative study.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2014Article
- How could health information exchange better meet the needs of care practitioners?Applied clinical informatics · 2014Article
- Slaying the dragon myth: an ethnographic study of receptionists in UK general practice.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2013Article
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3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundGP receptionists are the first point of contact with the NHS for most patients and have an important role in facilitating access to healthcare services. There is evidence that they are often perceived as impersonal, insensitive, or officious.
aimTo analyse the communicative styles of GP receptionists when dealing with patients. DESIGN OF STUDY: Ethnographically situated discourse analysis of audio recordings.
settingThree NHS GP surgeries in Scotland.
methodFine-grained transcription and stage-by-stage analysis of digital audio recordings of 283 encounters between receptionists and patients engaged in front desk business. Participants were 16 receptionists and 283 patients.
resultsInteraction between receptionists and patients consists mainly of verbal routines that are shaped by the administrative tasks completed through them. Receptionists adhere to these established patterns of use at all times, even when dealing with non-routine situations. Within the routine framework, receptionists communicate with patients using styles that display three dominant approaches: task centred, conventionally polite, and rapport building. Receptionists who adopt a task-centred approach use forms with minimal interpersonal content, while those who use conventionally polite forms or those associated with rapport building, give attention to establishing positive relationships with patients. There is no evidence that any stylistic approach is more efficient than another. There is, however, evidence that excessive adherence to routine verbal behaviour has an adverse impact on problem solving.
conclusionMost receptionist discourse consists of the repetition of established verbal routines. Receptionists adopt verbal styles that are predominantly task centred, conventionally polite, or rapport building. Although all three styles enable the completion of reception work with similar levels of efficiency, task-centred styles may appear over-direct. The use of a routine approach when dealing with problematic situations can inhibit and delay their resolution.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.