Residents of Koningsbosch and Maria Hoop can physically visit their GP again from next week.
In December, GP Korthals retired, which meant that the 1,300 patients had to look for a new doctor. In the meantime, you could request an e-consultation from online practice Arene.
‘Good care on location’
For many residents, that will change from Thursday 7 April: from then on, general practitioner Maasbracht will have walk-in consultation hours in community center Oos Heem twice a week. “A neighborhood committee approached us if we could do something for the residents of Koningsbosch,” says team manager Tamara Maes-Smeets. “We already had a large group of people from Koningsbosch who are registered with us and also wanted to offer them good care on location. And so the ball started rolling.”
Also read: Patients come to get a story from new online GP
Online consultation is also possible
Outside the walk-in consultation hours, residents can also request an online consultation, as they have done in recent months, or visit the location in Maasbracht. “The reactions have been positive so far, which at least I get myself,” says Maes-Smeets.
The practice hopes to appoint a permanent GP from 1 January. Whether there will be more walk-in consultation hours, for example, remains to be seen for the time being.
Also read: ‘Online GP post is an emergency bandage’
‘Good development’
Marijn van Oord, chairman of the Limburg department of the National Association of General Practitioners (LHV), thinks the walk-in consultation hour in Koningsbosch is a good development: “I think this is the start of a new good solution. But we still believe that a GP close to the neighborhood so that you can build a relationship of trust with your doctor and he knows the area well.”