Blog Post

It is more than just a reception role..

Gayle Taylor • Oct 16, 2023

Receptionist Gayle talks about what skills you need to be a top class receptionist

It takes a certain type of person to be a perfect receptionist. We juggle so many different tasks during our shifts, here are some of the skills we need to use every day:

We need to be:

Great communicators – we often get telephone calls from people who don’t necessarily know who they want to book into see, or speak to. They don’t always understand the specific treatments the practitioners do, so as receptionists we need to use probing questions to understand better what the patient needs.

Organised – As receptionists we deal with booking in patients both on the telephone and face to face, take payments, typing letters to GP or consultants. Pricing and ordering stock and various other tasks. The ability to multitask is a great quality to have. Quite often we have several patients waiting to pay and the telephone ringing: we need to remain calm and organised, all with a smile on our faces!

Empathetic – Understanding our patients especially when they are in pain or worried about treatment is something we try really hard to do. We appreciate that coming to see a professional about a medical issue is sometimes worrying and upsetting and having the ability to put them at ease and empathise with them, definately helps. A friendly face is sometimes all they need. In the case of our younger patients, a funny feet sticker is always a winner.

Active listener – A lot of our patients don’t get to see many friends or family during the week, so sometimes we are the first people they see when they venture out into the Village. We like to chat to our patients, some we have been seeing for many years. We get to know them and they feel comfortable sharing their news with us. Listening actively is a great skill to have and responding accordingly.

Problem solvers - We try very hard to accommodate our patients when booking them into appointments. Its not always easy to juggle appointment times, especially when we are busy and patients are struggling to see the NHS. The majority of our patients are very understanding, we do however have some that are not, but we carry on and always remember “behaviour breeds behaviour”

Detectives: we often have a case of mistaken identity:– We have lots of calls from patients that are trying to book in thinking we are the NHS clinic at Village Road, Cheltenham. Also patients calling thinking we are the chiropractors.

Sense of humour- We definitely need a sense of humour. From patients telling us jokes to showing us body parts!

The life of a Village Clinic Receptionist is never dull- thats why I love it

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What is Therapeutic Laser?

by Lucy Donnelly • 15 Oct, 2024

What is therapeutic laser? And how does it work? Therapeutic laser uses the power of light to reduce pain, inflammation and swelling as well as to encourage your body’s own healing mechanisms. It’s great for treating a huge range of problems including tendonitis, plantar fasciitis, wounds, bursitis, muscle tears and injuries. Laser can be used on both chronic (long term) and acute (recent) conditions. My 2 most recent successes that have totally stunned me as to how well they responded were a chronic back pain giving sciatic pain in the leg and an acute knee anterior cruciate ligament rupture. Both very different conditions where we used different layered settings, but both responded incredibly well and only needed up to 3 treatments. We have had our laser machine for 18 months now and I've only had 2 patients wish to stop their treatments due to limited benefits... most are keen to have the full course of 6 treatments or more. Laser therapy involves directing light energy into inflamed or damaged tissue to accelerate the body's natural healing process. The laser is placed in direct contact with the skin which enables specific wavelengths of light to penetrate the tissue and interact with molecules within the cells to cause several biochemical effects. One of the most important effects of laser therapy is encouraging blood flow into the area being treated. This means the cells there have a better supply of oxygen and nutrients and that waste products and swelling can be flushed out. Laser helps to reduce pain by slowing down the speed of the pain messages in nerves and it reduces inflammation by lowering the number of cells promoting the inflammatory process in the area treated. After laser treatment muscles are better able to relax and movement can become easier as a result. The treatment is painless, non-invasive and offers a drug free alternative to anti-inflammatories, pain killers and steroid injections. If you’re interested in how laser treatment could help you, please get in touch for more information 01242 673507 or mail@villageclinic.co.uk