[dekhn]

I know NHS works differently from the US, but the health care providers in the US that are used by major corps (IE, benefits) all have urgent care lines. I've done this repeatedly (to avoid my wife going to the ER with a sick kid). Typically, while it takes a month to get a routine appointment, the kid's doctor always can see them the next day for something urgent.

If you think about it, this makes a lot of sense because ERs are tuned for low latency, low throughput, high cost for emergencies, and if lots of people who just need urgent care go, they make it hard for the emergencies to be seen with low latency.