"Impossible to organise timely appointment"

My experience is the same as other members of my own and extended family and that experience of being able to secure an appointment via a telephone consultation is dire. Having said that it needs to be acknowledged that once you are actually able to speak to a GP either via phone or in person the care is good. But and this is a big but if you are thinking of joining this surgery then think again as the ability to consult with a doctor is appalling. Whatever non urgent symptom you may be having can escalate unnecessarily leaving you to end up in casualty at hospital because often there are no 'non urgent' appointments left for 2 weeks at a time! When asking the receptionists what can we do as 2 weeks is a long time to wait we are routinely told "Try calling back in 2 weeks when the next block of appointments are ready" If you are willing or able to do that and do call back in 2 weeks do not be surprised to be told the exact same thing. Just think, that is a whole month you have not been able to get advice leaving you feeling not just frustrated but worried that the same will happen again on the 6th week. I know GP's are under pressure, I feel for them truly but this cannot be right? I queried a particular medication which had contraindications relating to my own health but as I could not even get through to speak to anyone I opted to leave it out. How many other people must be doing that or worse self medicating? I do not overly use my GP at a drop of a hat for nothing as I'm aware of the pressures involved and I view myself as practical, sensible and articulate but I seriously worry about those in more vulnerable sectors: age related, mental health and even people with hearing problems who would not stand a chance with this practice when trying to get help. When you walk in because you cannot get through on the phone for upto and over an hour and speak to receptionists in the hope they will try to resolve your issues you are met with staff who are unsure, guarded who are waiting for patients to become volatile in their frustration and you'll often walk out without any answers as to what to do from there. It appears the bog standard answer is "You could try ringing for an emergency appt tomorrow from 8-8.30" Good luck with that! My husband waiting so long on the phone (an hour and 10 minutes) that he drove there with the phone still ringing. He said, he was told they were busy but found people stood talking about non medical conversations in the back and was told to go home and try again in the morning at 8am! Someone else immediately followed him to the desk frustrated with a raised voice but not shouting and told he was threatening them, which was untrue. I don't know what the answer is but this surgery is not being run efficiently for either staff or patients which doubles the calls to them unnecessarily. You must re-instate online booking especially for those with hearing problems too. Please get help to improve your services.