ArticleThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners2013
Slaying the dragon myth: an ethnographic study of receptionists in UK general practice.
Article in The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 38 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
38 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 65 citations in OpenAlex.
- Older Patients' Verbal Communication in Interactions With Primary Care Staff: A Qualitative Systematic Review and Meta-Ethnography.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2025Pooled 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
- Patient aggression towards receptionists in general practice: a systematic review.Family medicine and community health · 2023Pooled it
- Education to improve timeliness of shingles diagnosis in primary care: a cluster randomised study within a trial with nested qualitative study.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2024Trial
- Access to cervical screening in Australian general practices: a cross-sectional study using a 'secret shopper' approach.Cancer causes & control : CCC · 2026Article
- 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
- Mapping policies, regulations, and practice supports for medical office assistants in primary care: a scoping review.BMC primary care · 2026Article
- Elevating an invisible role: co-designing solutions to optimize medical office assistants in primary care.BMC primary care · 2026Article
- Bugbears in the Waiting Room: Revisiting Arber and Sawyer's Classic Study of GP Reception Work Using Ethnography in Eight English General Practices.Sociology of health & illness · 2025Article
- Article
- Evolution of the general practice receptionist role and online services: a qualitative study.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2025Article
- Role of receptionists in general practice: under-researched and under-valued.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2025Article
- Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on medical office assistants (MOAs) working in primary care: a qualitative study.BJGP open · 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
- Revealing administrative staff roles in primary care during the COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative study of family physicians' perspectives.Frontiers in health services · 2024Article
- Enhancing access to primary care is critical to the future of an equitable health service: using process visualisation to understand the impact of national policy in the UK.Frontiers in health services · 2024Article
- "Heliyon · 2023Article
- Understanding the invisible workforce: lessons for general practice from a survey of receptionists.BMC primary care · 2022Article
- A quantitative assessment of the parameters of the role of receptionists in modern primary care using the work design framework.BMC family practice · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
13 authors at 5 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundGeneral practice receptionists fulfil an essential role in UK primary care, shaping patient access to health professionals. They are often portrayed as powerful 'gatekeepers'. Existing literature and management initiatives advocate more training to improve their performance and, consequently, the patient experience.
aimTo explore the complexity of the role of general practice receptionists by considering the wider practice context in which they work. DESIGN AND
settingEthnographic observation in seven urban general practices in the north-west of England.
methodSeven researchers conducted 200 hours of ethnographic observation, predominantly in the reception areas of each practice. Forty-five receptionists were involved in the study and were asked about their work as they carried out their activities. Observational notes were taken. Analysis involved ascribing codes to incidents considered relevant to the role and organising these into related clusters.
resultsReceptionists were faced with the difficult task of prioritising patients, despite having little time, information, and training. They felt responsible for protecting those patients who were most vulnerable, however this was sometimes made difficult by protocols set by the GPs and by patients trying to 'play' the system.
conclusionFraming the receptionist-patient encounter as one between the 'powerful' and the 'vulnerable' gets in the way of fully understanding the complex tasks receptionists perform and the contradictions that are inherent in their role. Calls for more training, without reflective attention to practice dynamics, risk failing to address systemic problems, portraying them instead as individual failings.
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Registered trials
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.