As is well known, the family doctor is becoming increasingly busy due to all kinds of reasons, such as changes in care for the elderly, which mean that people continue to live independently for longer, but as a result also call on her or him more often. Furthermore, it is not so easy to go to mental health care (GGZ) and people who are waiting for this often also call on their GP in the meantime. “Due to waiting lists in mental health care and hospitals, referrals often have to be adjusted,” says one of the initiators of the website, Shakib Sana.
Major red tape
On top of that come all the administrative and organizational tinkering, cumbersomeness and changing rules, according to Sana. Up to 40 percent of the time is spent on this and it is subtracted from the time to provide real care.
“For example, you refer someone with cataracts to the ophthalmologist, who then discovers retinal problems that require specialist treatment. The general practitioner, who has already written the first referral letter, must then make a new referral letter in order to be reimbursed for the care”, Sana gives as an example. Also, patients who are being treated in the hospital often come to the family doctor for blood pressure measurements and blood tests, while such things can also happen in that hospital, even if they are very busy there too, according to Sana.
Furthermore, the demand for “a note from the doctor” for all sorts of things, he says, is increasing. “We are like note machines.”
“And also consider the great administrative burden imposed by the government in the form of the Wtza, the Care Providers Accession Act, with new entry rules for care and youth care providers. You spend a lot of time adjusting that. You have to fill out a lot of forms,” says Sana.
On 1 July, general practitioners will go to Malieveld in The Hague to raise the alarm about the problems.