Sadly that seems to be a thing - demand management through making it more difficult to see a GP. I have up on the last two attempts to see a GP. It's the same system, call up and hope someone eventually answers (which they don't, at least within the timescale I operate on). There's an online booking system but I need to go to the surgery and get the paperwork (which I've not yet done as it'd take a special trip), nor am I optimistic there won't be some issue that means I can't simply book an appointment.
To be fair, I suppose this works in a way, most of the things that take us to the GP are self-limiting and get better on their own, and the waiting room generally seems to be filled with mothers whose kid has a cold or sore throat. But longer-term, discouraging people from interfacing with primary care is a bad idea of lots of reasons, most of them involving more significant, expensive interventions later.
It all seems to be a bit ad-hoc and messy to be honest.