Meet Brigitte

Praise for our friendly practice receptionists

Brigitte (known as Brig) is the first person that patients see when they walk in the door of our practice and the first voice they hear when they call to make an appointment. She’s been with us for more than 18 years and is a familiar face to all our patients. Friendly and approachable, she sees it as her job to make everyone feel at ease.

“It’s important to make patients feel welcome from the moment they come in and to give them the best experience,” she says. “Not everybody likes going to the dentist, even adults can be really nervous. You can tell the nervous ones: they either chatter or they’re as quiet as a mouse. But they all come out saying that wasn’t as bad as they thought.”

Brig has seen a lot of changes since she started: the old paper record keeping system was replaced with networked computer system, which she says makes her job much easier and more efficient (especially because there’s no more filing). But the biggest change has been those introduced during COVID-19: opening the door to let patients in and out, wiping down the seats and making sure there’s not more than two people waiting in reception. She’s calculated she does 1,300 steps a day just walking to the door and back.

She can’t wait for things to go back to normal when she’ll be able catch up with patients’ stories of family life — the births, weddings and holidays that they normally chat about when waiting. “We’re a bit like agony aunts,” she says ,“patients often bring us cakes and homemade biscuits. They really spoil us.”

Brig says the best thing about her job is working with a really friendly team and although she admits that sometimes it can be stressful for everyone they always get to laugh in between. “The patients really value what we do and it’s nice getting positive feedback about the dentists. Particularly now; so many people say thank you for everything we’ve been doing for the past year.”

Today 12 May is International Receptionists Day. You can find out more on their website https://www.internationalreceptionistsday.com

If you’ve got any questions or want to get in touch, simply email info@keynshamdentalcare.co.uk, or call 0117 986 2992.