While most people are understanding when told they can’t do this without an invitation, two-thirds of the assistants surveyed deal with angry or aggressive patients on a weekly basis. Four out of ten even receive angry or aggressive phone calls on a daily basis.
‘Hard work’
Doctor’s assistant Alma also experiences this at the practice where she works. “Some of my colleagues say they are more often upset by how people call us names or throw the receiver at us. It is difficult to work like this,” she tells One today.
“I always try to stay professional and I like to help people,” she continues. “But if you continuously get calls like this from 8 to 5, it does something to you.”
Regular care at stake
“What we see in the survey, from the amount of open answers we received, that the doctor’s assistants are very highly regarded,” says Kees Gillis of the NVDA. “We are committed to policy. People can call, but we can’t arrange it for them,” says Gillis.
Alma says that with all these phone calls about the vaccine, she also has less time for regular care. “And because everyone is on hold for so long because of those extra phone calls, people are suddenly angry in practice. I do wake up because it is such a beautiful profession.”
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