Faceless health

Just lately I have been ill. And it is this illness that has highlighted how little we care for human interaction in this modern world. The phrase 'my door is always open' has been supplanted by 'my door is closed, if you want to see me then ring the bell and I will eventually respond'

This is how my doctors' surgery has changed, and probably others as well. It used to be that there would be a receptionist sat at the counter. You would come in and make an appointment with her, or book yourself in for an appointment with her. I don't go to the quacks very often so the change came upon me by surprise. No receptionist. An empty counter and a shut door. A sign tells you to use the touchscreen to book yourself in and if you want some human interaction you must ring the bell. When I first started using this surgery there were two receptionists, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Now there is a whole team of them, all with the purpose of keeping you away from the doctor and from themselves. I doubt that it is their fault, or their intention, they have work to do and don't want to be disturbed from that task by members of the public distracting them.
But i feel that a doctors surgery is one of those places where you want to see a friendly face. People who are ill may be scared, certainly nervous, over what may be wrong with them. This is where the receptionist was a friendly face with a little compassion and a smile for you, they knew your name and knew whether your appointment was a vital one or just a check-up. Obviously, this was before the time that they were told to keep the great unwashed from the door.

It seems, these days, that it is almost impossible to make an appointment. My surgery will allow you to make an appointment up to 2 weeks in advance... But there are usually none left when you need one. I have been told that I need to phone for an appointment at 2pm on a Tuesday as that is when the next set of appointments become available. 'Become available??!' In the past, the receptionist had a diary for each doctor, she could make an appointment for you a year in advance if you wanted. Why, now in the age of the spreadsheet and online calendars, have we lost this ability? Surely. it should be easier now? We should be able to make an appointment 100 years in the future if we wanted to? The only way I seem to be able to get to see the Dr is if I start phoning at 8am and keep going until I get through. However, I haven't got the time to do this as I am at work and I think my boss wouldn't be happy to see me sitting with the phone in my hand for an hour. And even when I got through it would probably be an automated voice, remember, the door is closed...

Healthcare for the modern times is a faceless thing that will just become less and less human as time goes by.