"Not being able to talk to a secretary"

I got an appointment on the Friday for the following Thursday.  I was given no information about the appointment, whether it was important or not.  I was meant to be travelling abroad to look after my mother who has dementia, as her carer had to go away.  So do I go or find out if I have cancer?

I tried phoning the consultant's secretary, who doesn’t work on Monday.  Why do you make appointments on Friday evening at closing time, if people can’t ring to cancel? Try them, try their emergency number, neither of the secretaries work on Mondays.

Tuesday morning ( I’m meant to fly on Wednesday) spend all morning phoning every fifteen minutes each of the numbers I gave. Answerphone only. So by 1pm I am crying down the phone to gynae appointments, they can’t help, as they didn’t arrange the appointment, only the absent secretary can change the appointment.  But they’re not there, I say.  The booking clerk sends them text after text, they tell me they are in, they have read the messages, they are too busy to help me.

So I’m still ringing trying to find out if I can have a doctor phone appointment or rebook but they have not got back to me, 2 days after arranging the appointment. Even though it is urgent as my mother - who is in her 90s with severe dementia - is without care.  

Why isn’t there a secretary to cover absent secretaries?  They should not stop you changing appointments at booking if there is no secretary available.  Is this why so many appointments are lost? Your administration prevents cancellations.  If one of the department’s managers had to cover the secretary’s phones they would be very aware of how often this happened.  Two days of trying to change an appointment, and still no joy.