OK well I think, in answer to my question "What happened?" the simple answer is successive governments, that's what happened.

I've had this awful flu/cold that's been going round. I didn't bother the doctors about it since it was only a heavy cold.

However after nearly 3 weeks it has left me with the most head destroying dose of sinusitis.

So this morning I tried to phone the doctors.

First mistake...... constantly engaged.

So I drove up there.

When I asked how I was supposed to book an appointment I was told that for that particular day you have to phone at 8:30.

I said I'd tried and the line was always engaged and was rewarded with a shrug which conveyed "Yep, it always is."

Ok so when is the next appointment available.

Answer NEXT WEEK!!!! It seems that my surgery cannot book in chunks of less than 7 days.

So if you're ill today you need to be planning to still be ill in a weeks time to make the appointment worthwhile.

How is this any sort of service?

How can that buffoon Brown and his sycophantic lackeys honestly believe that the NHS is better under labour?

It turns out that the surgery does still have a "turn up, wait and take your chances with which doctor you get" service so the receptionist put my name down for that.

Hold on - isn't that very similar to booking an appointment?

Certainly seems that way to me.

So if you want to book an appointment for today on the regular list you can't. If you want to turn up and take your chance on whose quackery you'll benefit from then you can.

Perhaps I'm missing something here but how do people who are on the way to work at 8:30 AM book an appointment? Quite simply they can't unless they book it for a week hence.

I'd like to think that the Tories will alter the NHS practices but, to quote Spike Milligan "No matter who you vote for, the government gets in.".

I won't be holding my breath for any radical improvements any time soon then.