"appointments"

My wife was told by her Doctor to make an appointment regarding an ongoing complaint. When I tried to make an appointment two days earlier , I was told that I can not pre-book an appointment and to come down to the surgery for 8am on the day. I duly arrived , only to find a queue of seventeen people waiting , so that ,when I got to the front of the queue , I was told that there were no appointments left . I was then told that the Doctor would phone my wife as soon as they arrived . It is now nearly 11am and no contact has been made. This means my wife and I can not go anywhere and one of us must stay by the phone in case someone does ring. The question is , who is responsible for this terrible situation , as it is getting worse by the day ? Where does it leave Doctor and Patient when trying to book an appointment on the Doctor's request and being told on more than one occasion that no appointments remain? Nobody seems to be taking responsibility for this terrible situation and the health of the community is worsening by the day.