Turnhout (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – The Turnhout Region GP Association, led by Dr. Wim Schippers, launched a central waiting list for 14 municipalities to fairly assign patients and highlight local GP shortages.
As VRT News reported, the Turnhout region’s general practitioner association has launched a central waiting list for residents in 14 municipalities who are looking for a family doctor. They mentioned that until now, people had to search for a GP on their own, and each practice used a different system. This often caused delays and frustration, especially for those who had recently moved or needed urgent care.
“Some practices had their own waiting lists, while others had a patient freeze. It was confusing and very discouraging for patients,”
says Dr. Wim Schippers, chairman of the Turnout region’s general practitioners’ association.
What is the Turnhout GP Association’s new central waiting list for 14 towns?
Residents can now register on the Turnhout GP association’s website to be added to the waiting list. After registration, patients are allocated to a local practice based on their location and doctor availability.
“We divide the waiting patients based on their location,”
says Schippers.
“We look at which practice is closest to you, and then you’re placed on a waiting list.”
“As soon as a spot becomes available, you, the patient, will be called. So you no longer have to cancel all the GP practices yourself.”
“As a patient, you no longer have to call all the GP practices yourself in search of a place, but you will be called.”
Wim Schippers, chairman of the general practitioners’ association of the Turnhout region
Patients who have been waiting the longest will be prioritised.
“We simply rank people based on their waiting time; it’s not the case that people with higher care needs are placed higher on the list. It’s very difficult to work with gradations. Care needs aren’t black and white,”
says the chair.
The system also highlights the shortage of GPs in the area. Officials say it will make access to healthcare more transparent and help residents find a doctor without navigating multiple practices.
“We estimate that in the city of Turnout, almost 10,000 people don’t have a regular GP,”
says Schippers.
“That’s a rough estimate based on the number of medical records; we don’t actually know how many people in our region are looking for a doctor,”
Schippers concludes.
The Turnhout Region General Practitioners Association manages the list. It brings together doctors from 14 municipalities:
- Arendonk
- Baarle-Hertog
- Beerse
- Dessel
- Gierle
- Hoogstraten
- Merksplas
- Oud-Turnhout
- Ravels
- Retie
- Rijkevorsel
- Turnhout
- Vosselaar
- Wechelderzande
The General Practitioners’ Association of the Turnhout Region has taken notice of the increasing shortage of family doctors in the Northern Kempen area in recent years. Since 2015-2016, residents have had difficulty finding GPs to provide care to them, while GP practices have been increasingly burdened with more patients per practice. Each GP practice was maintaining its own waiting list until 2018. In order to mitigate this problem, the Association created a centralised waiting list.
