"Trying to get a same-day appointment"

I recently had to take time off work after being advised by a practice nurse that I likely had the flu. I self-certified for 7 days however needed a sickness note after this to provide to my employer so I tried to call the surgey at 8am to get an emergency appointment for the same day.

By 8:40am I had rang 57 times to be told all the appointments had gone. I explained my situation to the receptionist & was told "there aren't any other options & you'll just have to ring at 8am & keep trying".

Later the same day, I decided to call the surgery to explain my situaiton again as what if the same thing happened again the next day? I was told I'd just have to come to the surgery at 8am the next day if I can't get through on the phone & be allocated an appointment as it is "first come first served".

It might be easier if the surgery had a queue system for the phones rather than just an engaged tone as I imagine a lot of people try ringing & pressing redial only for another person to get through who has ony just started to try ringing.

Posted by Healthwatch Liverpool on behalf of patient.