I don't know the story but A&E (I guess our equivalent of ER) is not appointment only. "Surgery" in the UK often refers to the office where the GP (general prac

I don't know the story but A&E (I guess our equivalent of ER) is not appointment only. "Surgery" in the UK often refers to the office where the GP (general practitioner - ie a non-specialist doctor you'd visit first and foremost for non-emergency cases) presides. So perhaps the story was about a patient visiting a GP but the context got lost in translation.