ArticleThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners2025
Evolution of the general practice receptionist role and online services: a qualitative study.
Article in The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Primary care receptionists influence migrant access to healthcare by acting as street-level bureaucrats: a scoping review.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
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundGeneral practice receptionists are perceived as the 'gatekeepers' to primary care services and are central to managing patient demand and facilitating patient care. This role is evolving and becoming increasingly complex in a digital world.
aimTo consider the growing role of patient-facing online services and the impact these services have on the role of the general practice receptionist. DESIGN AND
settingA focused ethnographic case study was undertaken in eight general practices across England and 19 stakeholder interviews took place.
methodFocused ethnographic case study and stakeholder interviews were conducted between September 2021 and July 2022.
resultsThe receptionist role looks different across practices, but is now more varied and less repetitive than it has been historically. The volume of patients and number of channels by which patients contact the practice means that receptionists are dealing with increasingly complex demand management and navigation to appropriate services. This now includes online services, which has created a new element to the receptionist role - digital facilitation. The role is also largely navigated by the receptionists without any formal training and staff are mostly expected to learn on the job from other receptionists, leading to inconsistent practices.
conclusionThe digitalisation of healthcare services impacts the workflow and consistency in task completion of general practice receptionist staff and has potential implications regarding job satisfaction and retention. In addition, the knowledge and skills required to fulfil this role are evolving and therefore may have recruitment and training implications.
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Registered trials
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