2024-03-24 15:08:22
Frank Vandenbroucke announces an investment of 55 million euros for measures in favor of general practitioners and general medicine practices.
The Minister of Social Affairs and Public Health, Frank Vandenbroucke (Vooruit), announced Sunday on VTM an investment of 55 million euros in a package of measures to support GPs and general practices. GPs will thus be able to receive assistance more easily from support staff.
Young general practitioners in training will be able to benefit from incentives to settle in regions where there is a shortage of doctors. The general practitioner will be more supported for the follow-up of chronic patients and for on-call. Finally, the resources will also be used to better arm general practitioners to help patients suffering from mental problems through increased collaboration with front-line psychologists.
The measures will be examined on Monday by the Inami Insurance Committee, where healthcare providers and mutual societies sit. Some €16.7 million will be spent on GP support staff. The doctor or general practice may benefit from aid of between 5,000 and 7,500 euros depending on the number of requests.
Means used in a targeted manner
The minister expects that 4,872 individual practices and 605 group practices, or 5,477 practices in total, will be eligible for this bonus, as they have not yet hired staff in the past. Moreover, for firms which already employ staff today, an annual flat-rate intervention of at least 3,796 euros is planned for the management of an administrative assistant or a practice assistant with a permanent employment contract or for the management of a practice nurse as part of a permanent collaboration.
A budget of 2.26 million euros will be released to deploy, from September, young general practitioners in training in rural areas or urban areas where the lack of general practitioners is significantly high. According to Mr. Vandenbroucke, most general practitioners in training – currently 2,100 – are attracted by training near their university town and in large practices.
The objective is to use additional resources in a targeted manner to reduce the obstacles to setting up in areas that lack general practitioners.
The objective is to use additional resources in a targeted manner to reduce the obstacles to setting up in areas that lack general practitioners, whether for practical reasons (longer journeys, no accommodation, etc.) or social reasons ( distance from their usual social life and circle of friends). The doubling of the availability fee for guards which came into force last February will be made permanent (9.121 million euros). During complicated hours, general practitioners participate in organized on-call hours.
Support from a psychologist
The amount of availability fee per hour they receive has been doubled to 15.2 euros during weekends and public holidays. Finally, from April, general practitioners or general medicine practices will be able to respond to a call to receive support from a clinical psychologist or a clinical orthopedagogue. A budget of 25 million euros will be devoted to this.
Concretely, a clinical psychologist or clinical educational specialist will work a certain number of hours per week to support the general practitioner in his office. The psychologist or remedial teacher will be able to offer their expertise to detect signs of psychological problems more quickly and more effectively.he will be able to give opinions on the possibilities in terms of treatment, referral and possible independent care.
Strengthening cooperation between general practitioners and psychologists is part of the reform of mental health care.
This support can be in the form of individual patient discussion in the office, topical discussions in the office or in a local medical assessment group (GLEM), where medical practice is shared. Another possibility: offer a patient a joint consultation (general practitioner and psychologist together). Consultations on this subject will continue in the coming days with Domus Medica and the College of General Practitioners (CMG).
Selon M. Vandenbroucke, this strengthening of cooperation between general practitioners and psychologists is in line with the reform of primary mental health care, which has been the subject of massive investments. It also aims for front-line psychologists and remedial education specialists (SPPL) to work outside the walls of their office. This makes it possible to detect worrying signals more quickly and avoid long-term psychological problems.
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