"Complex and ineffective new appointment system"

The appointment system seems to have changed recently and the booking information on the website is largely inaccurate. The link to the feedback form is also broken, hence I'm leaving a review here! We have been told several times by different staff that advance appointments are only available by calling at 8am on the day. The reality then is that after a lengthy wait in the call queue (at a very inconvenient time of day as we're busy getting ready for school and work), all advance and same-day appointments at the surgery are fully booked - you are then offered an 'extended access' same day appointment at Lewisham hospital instead.

Apparently the best chance of securing an appointment is to book online, and we will register to do this, but this does not seem a very accessible approach for those who struggle with technology, and it certainly should not be the only option in order to secure an advance or surgery-based appointment.

As others have mentioned some doctors are better than others at this surgery, and my husband wants to see the same doctor regularly to review an ongoing condition. He is now well overdue for review because he can't get an appointment with this doctor, and doesn't want to see a duty doctor at the extended surgery.

I need to make a non-urgent appointment for myself and really need to book this in advance, rather than on the day, in order to organise time off work. But this seems virtually impossible to do over the phone or in person with the new system!

Looking at the other similar feedback here, it's reassuring that we're not alone in our frustration about this. I cannot see how the new system can have been designed with patients' convenience in mind - it more seems aimed at putting people off and reducing the number of surgery-based appointments in favour of online booking and the extended access service.

There are some good doctors here but that doesn't count for much if you can't access them. This surgery is very local to us but I'm seriously considering looking for another gp practice with a more flexible appointments booking system.

I really hope that the surgery will consider changing the system in response to the high volume of feedback on this subject here, but given the unhelpful and sometimes obstructive treatment we've experienced from reception staff, I'm not sure that this will happen... As far as I can see, all that's required is to go back to a system where people can phone later in the day or visit in person to book advance appointments, and to ringfence some appointments for in-person and telephone bookings.