Yes, this is frustrating indeed, Jenny. It shouldn’t be like this. My mother taught me that we should always only talk to the highest executive possible (“I will call the CEO”). In those days she often succeed swiftly (being very persistent). As a little boy I heard her do this and was mesmerized by the process. And I learned from it. But it gets ever more difficult to talk to those who really can make the difference, because they are fenced off with call centers and layers and layers of little “helpers” that are not helpful in many cases at all.
This is already a burden if it only concerns trivial things like sending back internet purchases that don’t work or fit, but it becomes suffering when it concerns important things like our own health or that of loved ones. Government and important other institutions hide themselves behind walls of technology and bureaucracy ever more.
There are two solutions. On is practical, one is fundamental.
Practically, sometimes I grab my pen (or pc) and write a letter or e-mail to the highest authority of whom I can find the address. Surprisingly, this often works and I find it less frustrating than waiting shackled in a phone-call line. These are the rare occasions that I still use my law-title when signing, although I am not at all sure if this is conducive or not.
Recently I felt worried because Kaftrio is still not allowed for reimbursement in the Netherlands. The minister is negotiating about this since April and still no sign of any agreement is heard. I wrote a letter to him personally last Monday and it will be published shortly, perhaps even today, with help of the Dutch CF foundation. I hope it helps. I will post a link to the publication as soon as I can provide one.
These initiatives take time and effort as well, but they take frustration away (temporarily, the real work one has to do in confronting ones own mind). So I would not compare this to your arduous phone calls in any way.
Nowadays I have pretty short and accessible lines to the institutions I need. And my health insurance is reasonably accessible via internet, and most things go well on their own. I remember times this was not the case and I had to talk the hind legs off a Donkey to make my point and plead my case. Sometimes successfully, sometimes not. So, I feel your pain.
Now, the only fundamental thing to do always is accept the situation fully, and clean the mind from any expectation or frustration. Don’t even think of the outcome, just go through the motions and see what happens. Watch yourself from the position of the neutral observer. If not successful, at least you did your thing and you never know what the optimal outcome actually is (remember, “perhaps”?). The relief you feel after the successful phone call seems to come from achieving the result you craved for. But actually, looking closely at the mind, you will find out it comes from the (short-lived) cessation of the craving itself. If you don’t attach yourself to an outcome, there will be no craving in the first place. This is the direct way to liberation. In my case: I sent the letter and it is in the universe now. I have detached from any specific outcome. The sending of the letter IS the outcome, and it has already fully fulfilled its potential, no matter what comes from it.
Hope this helps a bit.