Does receptionist require caller to repeat any information at any point in the call? | 2: No, Yes | 0.82 | No significant difference P= 0.28 |
Does receptionist make an offer as part of the request response? | 3: No, No + Offer, Yes | 0.72 | No significant difference (offer versus no offer) P= 0.62 |
How does the caller treat the receptionist’s response? | 5: Silence, acceptance, problem accepting, problem understanding, no opportunity | 0.69 | No significant difference (silence, problem accepting/understanding versus acceptance or no opportunity) P= 0.32 |
Does receptionist offer an alternative or suggest a future action following an initial non-granting of request? | 2: No, Yes | 0.78 | GP1 and GP3 more likely than GP2 to offer alternative: P= 0.007 |
Who progresses request after receptionist’s first response? | 2: Receptionist, patient | 0.84 | GP3 more likely than GP1 and GP2 to progress call P<0.001 |
Is there a problem about whether the task is complete when receptionist starts to close the call? | 3: No problem, problem (patient clarifies), problem (patient closes down, receptionist re-opens) | 0.73 | No significant difference (no problem versus patient clarifies) P= 0.14 |
Does receptionist make a restatement of arrangements? | 3: No (nobody does), Yes, No (patient does) | 0.78 | GP3 more likely than GP1 and GP2 to restate arrangements P= 0.003 |
Does the receptionist say thank you first, in closing of call? | 3: No (nobody does), Yes, No (patient does) | 0.85 | GP3 patients tend to say ‘thank you’ first more frequently than GP1 and GP2 (non-significant) P= 0.07 |
Patient burden | 2: Yes, No | 0.78 | More overall patient burden in GP2 compared with GP1, and in GP1 compared with GP3 P<0.001 |