Privacy in waiting rooms.

Rosemarie

Rosemarie

Well-known Member
Location
England
Is anyone else concerned about the lack of privacy when dealing with private affairs? In the doctors waiting room, in the chemist, at the post office...everything is so public. If the chemist needs to discuss your prescription or verify your name and address, it's done with everyone being able to hear.

The same in the doctors. I was recently at the vet's and while waiting to be seen, I could hear what was happening at reception...the amount someone had to pay, whether paying by cash or card, making new appointments,etc. When it was my turn, I didn't have enough cash so had to pay with my card, something I rarely do. I could feel everyone's eyes on me. A little cubicle would make such a difference. It isn't just privacy, it's people's personal safety.
 

Hi Rosemarie, I don't have that trouble and I too
live in England.

Our Boots the chemist has a little room off to the
side of the pharmacy where a pharmacist will take
you and discuss the medicine that you have to take.

The Doctor's reception is a bit different, the seats
are well away from the windows and the receptionists
are far back and below the window sill, so only you
can hear them, there is also an electronic board for
logging in when you arrive for an appointment and
only you can see it when you stand in front of it.

There is also a large notice displayed stating that if
you would rather have a confidential chat with the
staff, just to say so as they have a room for that
purpose.

I have never used a Vet's for pets as I don't have
any pets.

Mike.
 
I agree with Rosemarie, it's the same here...everything can be overheard!! It really irritates me!!

yes if you want to discuss something delicate you can ask for a little room in the Pharmacy but general service like collecting prescriptions where you have to proclaim your name and address out loud.. you can't go into a side room for that... and in the GP surgery, the reception desk is just about 6 feet from the open waiting room, and absolutely everything can be heard.. and the receptionists are not subtle. When they ask for personal things, phone numbers addresses etc.. I write it down in the surgery but it's really annoying!!
 

I noticed when withdrawing cash in banks, they count your money loudly and thrust the notes at you, so I always use a cashpoint now
 
I've never thought about it.

At the chemist we just hand over the scripts and sit down. We are on the computer system because there is a safety net which means that if you spend more than a certain threshold in one year, all prescriptions for the rest of the year are free. When the scripts are ready we step up and take them to the front of shop cash register and pay for the meds and anything else we may have wanted. No embarrassment at all.

The same at the doctor's. Generally I have made an appointment. When I arrive I nod or wave to the receptionist who knows me. I then sit down until the doctor softly calls me by my first name and afterwards I sign a chit and because my doctor bulk bills, I there is nothing to pay. Again no embarrassment and no lack of privacy.
 
Everything can be overhear here as well. I guess it doesn’t bother me. We were in a restaurant yesterday and the people next to us talked so loud I felt I could join their conversation. Honestly, I probably would have if it was something that interest me.
 
Lack of privacy has bothered me at times, too. At the dentist the assistant came out into the waiting room and announced everything about the state of my teeth. I was annoyed with this and told her that I didn't appreciate her telling everyone there about my situation and never went back to that dentist. Found a better one that only discusses things in the room with the door closed. This was about 10 years ago I believe. When I go to the Pharmacy I use the car drive up and do everything else over the phone.
 
I'm not a fan of the modern dental offices where the treatment areas are a row of cubicles that are open to each other with no privacy.

I also get upset with mail that has printing on the outside announcing the contents of the envelope to everyone that handles it.
 
Oh thank goodness we don't have that at our dental surgeries Bee, wow, !! I would hate that. It's distressing enough for most people at the dentist without being in an open cubicle and being heard by everyone else.
 
Never give it much thought. I don't pay attention (or listen attentively) to anyone else and assume the same when I'm at the window.

Do people sometimes hear my phone number or age, etc.. I don't know but if they have they've never given me a call.:D
I suppose if someone has gone through life having bad situations arise, from time to time, the suspicion heightens and that's understandable. So far so good, for me, and at my age I've got more to concern me than some snooper at the doctor's office or pharmacy.
 
DaveA said:
Never give it much thought. I don't pay attention (or listen attentively) to anyone else and assume the same when I'm at the window.

Do people sometimes hear my phone number or age, etc.. I don't know but if they have they've never given me a call.:D
I suppose if someone has gone through life having bad situations arise, from time to time, the suspicion heightens and that's understandable. So far so good, for me, and at my age I've got more to concern me than some snooper at the doctor's office or pharmacy.
Click to expand...


Thats the way I am too.
 
We're not taking about just phone numbers or ages ... but very personal medical issues that are discussed at the receptionist desk , with a queue of people behind and at the side.. and a whole waiting room filled with people just feet away!!

Our doctors' surgery reception area is tiny.. there's only 4 steps between the desk and the waiting room... everyone can hear every detail, regardless of how quietly we talk..( and btw the receptionists are super loud!!)
 
Our pharmacies have a line on the floor and a standing sign that says to stay behind that line while waiting. This gives the person at the counter privacy when picking up their med. There is a different area for Consultation.

I've never been at a medical or dental provider's office where information was given in the waiting room. All personal info is filled out on a form by the patient.
 
RadishRose said:
Our pharmacies have a line on the floor and a standing sign that says to stay behind that line while waiting. This gives the person at the counter privacy when picking up their med. There is a different area for Consultation.

I've never been at a medical or dental provider's office where information was given in the waiting room. All personal info is filled out on a form by the patient.
Click to expand...
That's how it is here too at mine. Also the Bank tellers are a long way from the door. You wait behind a rope barrier until a teller asks you to approach them.
 
terry123 said:
That's how it is here too at mine. Also the Bank tellers are a long way from the door. You wait behind a rope barrier until a teller asks you to approach them.
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Same situation at my bank and pharmacy.

Also the same at medical places...info is filled out by me on paper.

As for dentists...it’s my daughter or son or son in law and even my daughter in law once.

I won’t even let the hygienist clean my teeth, I make my daughter do it...and I make her give me a shot of lidocaine...a little.

My daughter says I’m the worst patient...she’s right! :)
 
I don't really think that people in a doctor's office care that much about what is ailing other people. ..
Never saw anyone take notes there, or send me a get well card.
 
One thing that is not private at my Doctor's Surgery is
when it is your turn for your appointment, your name
comes up on a 40" screen with the room number and
a computer voice tells everybody what is on the screen.

In any hospital clinic, the receptionist asks for your name
and date of birth, always in a loud voice and the waiting
room there is chock-a-block full.

Mike.
 
Or pharmacies, dr offices & banks have a "privacy line" of about at least 6 feet from the counter, and often a consultation area beyond that. But I remember when that wasn't always so, & the worst thing was the nurse or tech yelling out your weight!
The Labs usually have a numbered ticket machine at the entrance, you pull your ticket & when it's your turn they flash the number & announce it as "Now serving 186 at Desk number 3." To check you in.
 
This has been a pet peeve of mine for a long time. Sometimes, when asked over the phone by a doctor's receptionist to give my Medicare number, I read it to her, and she loudly reads it back to me, to be sure she's gotten it right. It's the same as my Social Security number, and everyone in the waiting room can hear i!

Once, when I was sitting in a waiting room, a nurse came up to an elderly man who was sitting there, with a checklist in hand, and actually asked him if his bowel movements were regular. He actually answered her politely; if it was me, I would have told her to take a flying leap!
 
Sunny said:
This has been a pet peeve of mine for a long time. Sometimes, when asked over the phone by a doctor's receptionist to give my Medicare number, I read it to her, and she loudly reads it back to me, to be sure she's gotten it right. It's the same as my Social Security number, and everyone in the waiting room can hear i!

Once, when I was sitting in a waiting room, a nurse came up to an elderly man who was sitting there, with a checklist in hand, and actually asked him if his bowel movements were regular. He actually answered her politely; if it was me, I would have told her to take a flying leap!
Click to expand...

Sunny-- check with Medicare for your new number. Within the last year, they reassigned numbers that are no longer your SS#.
 
I worked in dialysis for nine years and those folks have no privacy unless they ask for it. Tons of medical information is discussed out in the dialysis unit where there are rows of chairs and dialysis machines a few feet apart. I used a rolling stool so I could sit and get as close to patients at eye level as I could without violating personal space.
 
RadishRose said:
Our pharmacies have a line on the floor and a standing sign that says to stay behind that line while waiting. This gives the person at the counter privacy when picking up their med. There is a different area for Consultation.

I've never been at a medical or dental provider's office where information was given in the waiting room. All personal info is filled out on a form by the patient.
Click to expand...

Same situation at my doctor, dentist, bank and pharmacy.

When asked questions that I think are too identifying to say aloud, I've requested a piece of paper so that I could write down the info (especially date of birth, SS#, or driver's license info) and shrugged while asking saying, "One can never be too careful, you know." I hold onto the paper, let the person type it in, and take it with me. Every single time I've done that the asker has remarked about what a good idea that was, as have people behind me in line.

If someone asked me about my bowel movements in front of others, I'd probably say, "You tell me about yours and then I'll tell you about mine, and perhaps the rest of the room would like to join in the conversation." Yes, I can be snarky that way.

While we're on the subject, one of my pet peeves with nursing staff is when they treat elderly people like they're small children. "Did you go poo-poo today?" some would ask my 90 year old mother. Ugh!

I used to really bristle at that, and would sometimes shoot back, "She's 90, not 2." If you don't know the proper terms for bodily functions we can teach them to you."
 
What is this "privacy" thing you all are talking about? I looked it up at Wkipedia and it is not listed.:(
 

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