But the Deveron Medical Practice has defended the system. The appointment system is designed to reduce the number of lost appointments through patients not turning up.

In a survey of medical centres in the local area, conducted by the Banffshire Journal, it was discovered that the Deveron practice was the only one to operate this way.

Doctors' appointments at the practice are "released" a week in advance, but anyone unable to fix a meeting with their doctor in that time has then to phone up on the day they want to be seen.

However, the Banffshire Journal has received a number of complaints from angry patients who are dissatisfied with the service, saying that it is almost impossible to secure a released day appointment.

One registered patient complained that when she tried to arrange an appointment several days in advance, she was told that she should phone back on the day.

However, she said that she has often found it difficult to get through on the phone at 8.30am before going to work.

Another unhappy patient said he was among four people forced to wait to make appointments in the surgery early on Monday morning.

He explained that one of the receptionists was so busy taking calls that they all had to wait for the other assistant to deal with their requests.

He said: "When you phone the surgery it is engaged non-stop, so I always go in at 8.30am.

"This morning there was one girl answering the phone and the other was tied up with a patient.

"There were four people there, and we all had to wait until that girl was free to help us. The girl on the phone didn't help anyone – she was answering the phone all the time, not dealing with the people who were there."

Practice manager Moira Duncan explained that the new appointment system came into use three years ago as part of a Government scheme called the Scottish Primary Care Collaborative (SPCC).

Speaking on how this had affected appointment procedure, Mrs Duncan said: "Appointments are now released a week in advance. If they are opened too far in advance, there are increased numbers of DNAs (Did Not Attend).

"We also work out slots for people who phone up on the day in the morning.

"No-one is ever refused an appointment. There is always a duty doctor to deal with emergencies, and we keep appointments open for emergencies."

Despite having received no written complaints, she admitted that people were at times dissatisfied with the appointments they were offered – usually because either the suggested time did not suit them or they could not see their regular GP.

A patient questionnaire also revealed that some people did not like having to phone up at 8.30am to make an appointment for that day.

Mrs Duncan acknowledged that Monday mornings "can be horrendous", but said that measures were in place to manage the number of phone requests.

Mondays, she explained, were often hectic with calls from people who did not want to see a G-Med doctor over the weekend, and who hoped to make an appointment with their GP at the start of the week.

She explained that provision was made for such eventualities, with extra doctors in the surgery each Monday to help relieve the backlog. She added that a similar problem often existed on Friday afternoons, when a glut of patients phone in to get a last-minute appointment before the weekend.

The Government's SPCC programme was designed to tailor the way general practices work to enhance access and reduce delays in order to improve the overall experience and outcomes for every patient by identifying and removing the barriers that cause delays.

To date, almost 500 GP practices have participated in the SPCC, which is eventually set to involve half of all practices in Scotland.

Deveron Medical Practice was included in the second wave of clinics to join the scheme.

The other local practices – Banff and Gamrie, Aberchirder, Portsoy and Macduff – allow appointments to be booked in advance.

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