"Almost impossible to get an appointment"

Almost impossible to get an appointment when required at this practice. I required an urgent but not an emergency appointment, however when I rang I found it was difficult to get passed the receptionist, eventually I was put through to a secretary but then passed to another secretary because I requested to see a female doctor. I was questioned as to why I wanted a female doctor and was even asked if I had a sexually transmitted disease. Each time I was told I would need to ring the day before to book a next day appointment and could not pre-book an appointment any other way. Took me nearly 50 minutes of repeating my problem to non-medical people before I was able to pre-book an appointment in 3 days time. I don't think having to explain your problem in detail to 3 different non-medical people is appropriate. Patients need to be able to access appointments without having to ring day before in the hope an appointment is still available the next day. Patients should not be subjected to the intense questioning about their condition by non- medical personnel. It would be easy to request an emergency appointment and be seen the same day, however this defeats the object and limits these slots for genuine emergencies. I work in the health service and can honestly say there is no wonder it is in the state it is, as patients who cannot book an appointment to see their doctor are turning up at the local emergency department, which is currently stretched well beyond its capacity. GP appointments need to be more accessible and available with provision of a service to suit the needs of the patient i.e. Evenings and weekends for those who work and don't require emergency appointments. I did request to speak to the practice management about my issues, but was told by staff they didn't know when they would be in or indeed, when they would be available and said they could not provide me with a number to contact them.