This Morning’s Dr Ranj Singh infuriates doctors’ receptionists after claiming NHS desk staff FAILED to spot his brother’s ‘close-call’ asthma attack was an emergency – but they hit back saying: ‘we save lives’
- Dr Ranj, 40, told Twitter that his brother had been taken seriously ill with asthma attack but claimed NHS desk staff had failed to spot seriousness of condition
- While the This Morning medic said he was supportive of NHS receptionists, he said they should be able to ‘spot an emergency’ but not make ‘clinical decisions’
- Doctors’ reception staff defended their role, with one challenging Dr Ranj to experience a day in their job. Another said the role was ‘tough for poor money’
- Ex Strictly star clarified that ‘receptionists across the NHS have a really difficult job’ and said his brother’s experience was down to ‘systemic’ problems
This Morning star Dr Ranj Singh has felt the wrath of doctors’ receptionists after he said they should ‘do better’ at being able to spot ‘an emergency’.
Claiming that NHS reception staff had failed to spot that his brother was having a serious asthma attack – leaving the television doctor feeling ‘helpless on the phone’ – he said his family member had a ‘close-call’ as a result.
Last night, the star told fans that his brother was ‘okay’ but urged healthcare professionals to take asthma more seriously.
The 40-year-old shared with his 104,000 followers that he accepted desk staff have a ‘really tough job’ but said they ‘should be able to recognise when something is an emergency’.
Today, the This Morning star was forced to clarify what he meant after his original comments angered many who work as doctors’ receptionists.
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This Morning star Dr Ranj Singh sparked a tense conversation with doctors receptionists after he revealed his brother’s asthma attack hadn’t been spotted as an emergency by desk staff
The TV star, who appeared on Strictly Come Dancing in 2018, said he felt ‘helpless’ trying to advise his brother on the phone during a serious asthma attack
Dr Ranj revealed that his brother’s asthma attack had become more serious because the first points of contact had failed to spot it was an emergency.
He wrote: ‘We still don’t take #asthma seriously enough. Asthma attacks can be fatal if not treated properly. To do that we have to know when things are serious and send people to the right place. He is OK, but I felt helpless on the end of the phone. We can and should do better.’
Later, he added: ‘Don’t get me wrong, I’m not knocking receptionists – they have a really tough job.
‘However, I don’t think they should be making clinical decisions, and should be able to recognise when something is an emergency.’
The comments sparked anger amongst many who read them.
@CathiMcNeil fired back: ‘I challenge you to work a whole day on any reception desk at any surgery. Maybe then you will be in a position to make a balanced judgement on someone else’s role in an already stretched system.’
@Gray13Clare penned: ‘GPs just do not have the capacity so therefore receptionists are expected to sign-post patients, we have saved a few lives along the way so not all bad. Please support NHS staff they ALL do a very tough job for poor money.’
The 40-year-old, who’s a popular face on daytime television, later clarified his comments, saying he ‘agreed that receptionists across the NHS (not just GP) have a really difficult job’ (Pictured in September 2018 at the St John Ambulance Everyday Heroes Awards)
@DrRanj responded: ‘I’ve spent time on GP reception desks so I know how difficult things are. Still doesn’t support non-clinical staff making clinical decisions in my opinion I’m afraid. We need a better system.’
@HelenRSalisbury added: ‘Isn’t recognising that something is an emergency a clinical decision?’
@CButterley wrote: ‘I work as a nurse in A&E and our receptionists are brilliant at recognising sick children a lot of the time. We’ve had receptionists fetch children straight to us directly when they’ve been concerned. Definitely above and beyond what is expected of them.’
@LoliaSmith added: ‘I would love you to come spend a morning in our surgery..we have templates to complete which are designed by clinicians..so we can make the best possible decisions…so I have to disagree with you.’
Today, Dr Ranj posted several more comments on his ‘rant’, saying: ‘So further to my tweet last night, to clarify: 1) I agreed that receptionists across the NHS (not just GP) have a really difficult job. 2) My experience was not in isolation.
‘Seems to me that we have a systematic issue which is leading to harm. Surely we need to address this?’