Doctors in Drenthe are calling on people not to just come to their GP’s part. Due to a long waiting time on the phone, people decide to come to practices without an appointment. This leads to undesirable situations, such as discussions at the counter.
“You can’t just walk up,” says Joyce van Dijk of Huisartsenzorg Drenthe. “We see many people who report seasonal complaints: hay fever, sun allergy and tick bites. We can’t do anything about hay fever and sun allergy and you can remove a tick yourself. You can make an appointment for emergencies.”
Due to long waiting times on the phone, people decide to go to the posts in Meppel, Hoogeveen, Emmen or Assen without an appointment. According to Van Dijk, it is especially busy in Meppel. She wants people to think carefully before calling the GP: “You really have to ask yourself whether it is acute, whether you should see a doctor today or whether you can wait until Tuesday when you can see your own doctor again.”
There is no question of understaffing, says Van Dijk. “Everyone who can help has been deployed. The available telephone lines are open. But we see that it is bizarrely busy, that the waiting time on the phone is longer than half an hour.”