Antwerp (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Waiting times at Antwerp’s Praktijk aan de Stroom for patients without a GP stretch to weeks. Authorities urge: don’t wait until you’re ill to find one.
The Mediahuis newspapers have reported this, and vzw Stroom has verified the information.
“The shortage is so great that you should not wait until you are ill. Proactively look for it. That way you have a GP when you need him”,
It sounds.
Due to a lack of general practitioners, the practice was established at the Cadix hospital two months ago.
The website huisartszoeker.be was founded in Antwerp, Belgium, at the end of April in response to the long-standing issue of a scarcity of general practitioners.
Residents of Antwerp without a general practitioner can sign up on this website to locate one.
“The aim is on the one hand to offer a solution to people who cannot find a GP and on the other hand to create some breathing space for GPs who are over-demanded and have patient stops,”
Says Liesje Eyckmans, chair of the Minerva GP association and chair of the non-profit organisation Stroom.
“The website was created based on data from all Antwerp GPs, which means that as a patient you no longer have to call 20 practices, but can enter your address via one website and search for an available GP in your area.”
Patients are temporarily sent to Praktijk aan de Stroom in the event that a general practitioner is unavailable. This practice was established especially for those waiting to be seen by a general practitioner.
The fact that there is a major shortage of GPs is now once again evident from the number of people who have registered via the website.
“As we expected, there is a huge demand. In 2 months, we have already referred more than 1,200 people. Half of them could go straight to a regular practice, the other half were referred to Praktijk aan de Stroom”,
Says Eyckmans.
Due to the high demand, waiting times at Praktijk aan de Stroom are increasing to at least 2 weeks.
“If you see that more than 600 people are referred to Praktijk aan de Stroom in 2 months, you can imagine that it is not easy to get an intake interview on the day itself.”
“We are going to see if there is a budget to hire an additional nurse. We also feel that there is a need for a social worker, because there is a lot of administration involved in getting patients to a permanent practice.”
It is also important that you start looking for one yourself in time, it is said.
“The shortage of general practitioners is so great in Antwerp that there needs to be a change in mentality. Don’t wait until you are ill to look for a general practitioner. Start looking proactively, so that if you urgently need a general practitioner, you already have one,”
Says Eyckmans.
What steps are being taken to reduce waiting times at Praktijk aan de Stroom?
Implementing a combination of scheduled appointments and walk-in options can reduce access times and improve patient flow.
Studies show that a hybrid walk-in/appointment system can decrease waiting times by allowing more flexible patient access while maintaining order and resource allocation.
Changing physicians’ working times and aligning them better with patient admission patterns can reduce bottlenecks. Simulation studies in hospital settings have demonstrated that optimizing staff schedules according to demand significantly decreases waiting times.
