Contacting Doctor's Surgery.

I needed to make a doctor's appointment this morning. If you need to make an appointment with my doctor's surgery  (The Grove Surgery in Netherfield, which is right next to Milton Keynes Hospital, a short walk under the road and into the hospital campus.) you have to ring after 8.15 a.m. for an appointment that day, or at 2 p.m. for the afternoon. I have found that you can generally get an appointment if you turn up at the surgery just as it's opening, but the last time I did that I had to queue for 15 minutes or so. I tried several times and got the automated system. You then get through to a recorded voice, then it says 'the surgery is experiencing a lot of calls, please call back later when it won't be so busy' (or words to that effect.) The thing then hangs up on you, much to my annoyance. Fancy being hung up by a machine! My old surgery, Hilltops, at Great Holm, and my doctor in Bedford had a 'ring back' system, which meant that you pressed '5' on the prompt and put the receiver down, and when there was a free line, the surgery automatically phoned you, which meant you didn't have to keep ringing back. This surgery doesn't have this facility, unfortunately. It took me a good half-dozen attempts to get through and actually speak to a human and make an appointment. What annoyed me further was the fact that the receptionist asked me WHY I wanted to see a doctor (as a result of the cardiology consultant's letter I received.) It's as if they don't think your appointment will be important enough to warrant wasting a doctor's time. Then it begs the question, when would it NOT be important enough to see a doctor? Anway, the appointment is at 3.30 this afternoon.