Running extra shifts, answering the phone yourself due to a lack of assistants and not being able to go on holiday to rest. For many GPs, the workload is too high. They are concerned about the well-being of their staff and themselves, according to the results of a survey by the National Association of General Practitioners (LHV).
More than 1,100 doctors completed the questions. According to the GPs’ association, this is a good reflection of the 13,000 members. Three quarters of the doctors say the workload is too high. About 60 percent say it is difficult to find replacements for themselves or employees. Half say they have less energy now than before the corona pandemic.
“These are shocking figures that show that the workload is really getting out of hand,” says LHV chairman Mirjam van ‘t Veld. “We have seen many more care questions and catch-up care since the corona time. Where people previously postponed care for a while, they no longer do that. I see the fatigue in the general practitioners when I visit them.”
According to Van ‘t Veld, the pressure on GPs is also increasing because people can no longer go elsewhere. Due to waiting lists in hospitals, mental health services and youth care, the problem is shifting to general practitioners. “We see that care questions are piling up, people still want to be helped. The GP is always there and that is a great asset in the Netherlands.”
Low threshold
There are consequences to the high workload of GPs, she warns. “We are already seeing that you have to wait a little longer here and there before you can go to with a non-urgent care question. We don’t really want that, we don’t want the GP to lose that low threshold. That’s why we are now sounding the alarm. .”
According to Van ‘t Veld, solutions are mainly for the longer term and must come from The Hague. “Really remove the administrative burden and don’t ask us anymore for new large-scale vaccination campaigns. We will continue to do the flu vaccination, but if we start putting boosters against Covid-19 later, the GGD can do it without us.”
“What is also important is that GPs have enough time for a patient. You see that many social problems are put on the GP’s plate. If people have debts, this can cause health problems. You have to have time for that as a GP , so we can find out together what is going on.”
According to Van ‘t Veld, it is not the intention that people avoid the GP. “Please don’t do that, it will only lead to more delayed care, and it will have to be caught up at some point.”
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