IMHO This should be a nurse led service, not a receptionist one... Nurses not only undergo years of training at university, but often also have a broad range of knowledge and experience that a receptionist will never have. Perhaps more importantly they also have a professional code of conduct which if broken gets them removed from the register, which includes strict rules covering confidentiality, something receptionists don't have (we regularly hear the receptionists at our GPs discussing patients in full earshot of the entire waiting room). Nurses cost more though, which is why many hospitals HCSWs now do most of the work that nurses used to do....
Out GPs uses EMISWeb though, so we can book appointments, get repeat prescriptions etc, via either the Patient Access app or via the website. The appointment booking side has a box you can put why you want an appointment, it'd take seconds for a GP to glance at this before approving the appointment, declining the appointment, arranging a telephone consultation, or re-directing the patient to the relevant service. They don't even look at it though, and still ask me what they can help me with when I go. Like others though, it takes about 2 weeks to get an appointment at our GPs, you can't even get an emergency one same day as usually a mum has booked them for their kid who has a sore throat within seconds of the surgery opening the phone line for the day. I phoned once as I had nearly gone blind in one eye, only to be told to go to the walk in at a nearby hospital, who then sent me to eye clinic in A&E (turned out I had a micro ulcer on my cornea, that was treated and fixed by 5 days later, thanks to the nurse I saw in A&E...). Yet if you go direct to the walk in or A&E they send a nasty letter telling you to phone them first in future. lol
We're unusual though, been an ex nurse myself I know when to use medical services, and when to use over the counter remedies (I didn't see one for years, then finally had to go when my diabetes first showed up on the scene, I ended up in hospital for 3 days getting it stabilised). Many people it seems don't care to learn this, and just go straight to their GP or A&E. So sadly I can see why they feel some form of triage is needed. It won't work though, you'll just have people who DO need to see a GP been turned away whilst people with a bit of a cough getting to see one.
As to prescriptions, if it's available over the counter, or you only need a strength that is available over the counter, then this shouldn't be given on prescription, a recommended medication slip would be better, where you then pay for it yourself. If it wasn't for free prescriptions though (type 2 diabetic so get my meds for this for free) I could never afford my diabetes meds, the Victoza injectable for example is incredibly expensive. We'd end up like the US with people dropping dead purely because they can't afford the medicine that easily treats their condition. People just need to start THINKING before running to their GPs/A&E, as that's not something that is going to happen any time soon, then yeah triage is needed, just not by a receptionist... There are already enough cases of life threatening illness going undetected by GPs, without receptionists getting more involved too..
So, no vote on the poll from me, as I want option 3 "A nurse or Dr should triage who the Dr does or doesn't see, as 90% of people are apparently unable to judge this for themselves". :P
