Rude receptionist - help?!

Hi there

My work is going through the same thing at the moment. I think the next step having had a general discussion and having given instruction s would be to meet with the worst offender now as it is more capability issue and if you have policy is place with regards to working/ violence and aggression/equality and diversity these could be brought in to place if necessary. The team will get a terrible name if the first person they see comes across as rude or aggressive. It sounds harsh but you can only be nice nicey for so long before you have to steps. Of it needs to be done as a verbal warning then it could be. Another thing that might need to be done is sending that member of staff on a course that could help like a stress resolution or assertiveness course it could help that staff member that could be offered first before other more severe steps to give them the chance to improve. Hope it gives ideas even if they seem bit harsh.

We have a receptionist who is very good at what the job requires. However, we have had a number of pts complain about her rude and abrupt nature. I have witnessed this myself, it tends to be when people are confrontational, however there have been occurences where the patient is merely asking something and the reaction is a bit rude. I have had a discussion with all the receptionists about maintaining eye contact and speaking in a soft tone, however we are still receiving complaints. I've also discussed what the specific complaints were and who they were from - I just had feedback from them on how rude the patients has been - which in my opinion shouldn't matter unless they were abusive. Any ideas on the next step?