The Doctor on Call Standard
Five steps for when a guest feels unwell. The desk’s job is to reach the right help quickly, never to diagnose, and to keep the guest’s health private.
- Who
- Concierges and front office, with the duty manager
- When
- Any guest who asks for a doctor, a pharmacy or medical help
- You need
- The medical contacts card, the duty manager’s phone, a quiet room
- Measured by
- Emergency number called first if urgent
- Duty manager told within 5 minutes
- No health detail said in public areas
5 steps
01
Judge urgency
Ask one question: is this an emergency? For chest pain, trouble breathing, heavy bleeding or a fall with injury, call the local emergency number at once, then send the first aider and the duty manager.
Say this
“Mr Weber, I’m calling an ambulance now, and our duty manager is on the way to you. Please stay on the line with me.”
Common mistake Calling the hotel doctor for chest pain because it feels less dramatic. The ambulance is the faster way to a hospital.
02
Offer options
If it isn’t urgent, offer the choices on the medical contacts card: a doctor to the room, a clinic or a pharmacy, with the cost and the wait for each. Let the guest choose. Never hand out medicine.
Say this
“A doctor can be here within the hour for about €180, or the clinic 10 minutes away sees people until 20:00.”
Common mistake Choosing for the guest to save time. They needed their insurer’s clinic, and now they pay twice.
03
Keep it private
Take the details by phone or somewhere quiet, never across a busy desk. Share the guest’s health only with those who must act on it: the doctor and the duty manager. No symptoms in the shift log.
Say this
“Doctor called for room 214 at 19:40, arriving 20:30. Duty manager informed. Details with the DM only.”
Common mistake Repeating the symptoms aloud at the desk to confirm them. The couple waiting behind now know why the guest stayed in.
04
Support the visit
Meet the doctor at the entrance and take them to the room with the duty manager or a colleague. Offer someone to translate if needed. If medicine is prescribed, offer to collect it from the pharmacy.
Say this
“Dr Conti is here for you, Mrs Haddad. Once she has seen you, I can collect anything she prescribes.”
Common mistake Giving the doctor the room number and leaving them to find it. A stranger walks the corridors and knocks on the wrong door.
05
Check in
Call or visit within 2 hours of the doctor’s visit, and again the next morning. Ask if anything should be sent up. Ask housekeeping to service the room only on request, without saying why.
Say this
“Good morning, Mrs Haddad. I wanted to ask how you are feeling, and whether we can send anything up.”
Common mistake Treating the doctor’s visit as the end of it. The guest spends the day in bed and remembers that nobody called.
Our Medical Contacts
The numbers the desk needs when a guest is unwell, filled in for your own hotel. Keep one by every desk phone, next to the local emergency number.
Doctor on call
- Name and number
- Hours and waiting time
- Cost to the guest
- Languages spoken
Nearest hospital emergency
- Name and number
- Hours and waiting time
- Cost to the guest
- Languages spoken
Late-night pharmacy
- Name and number
- Hours and waiting time
- Cost to the guest
- Languages spoken
Fill it in with the duty manager at Monday’s briefing. On the first of each month the head concierge calls each number to check it still works. New staff read it on their first shift.
The Standards Library.
No. 36 · Concierge
The Third-Party Payment Standard
Five steps for paying suppliers and tips on a guest’s behalf. A charge the guest didn’t expect can turn a well-made booking into a dispute at checkout.
No. 27 · Concierge
The Local Knowledge Standard
Five steps for a shortlist of places the desk has actually visited. Guests can search online in their room; they come to the desk for what a search can’t say.