Reform proposed to locum doctor system in capital

Next year will see a new reorganisation of the locum doctor service in Brussels, announced by the Brussels associations of family doctors.

At present there are four posts for doctors on call: in Koekelberg near the Basilique, at the Saint-Luc hospital in Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, and in Brussels-City at the Saint-Jean and Saint-Pierre hospitals.

The new plan would add a further two posts for emergency doctors. One of the six would remain in the centre at one of the two existing locations, while the other five would be spread around the rest of the region “more strategically”.

The federation of family doctors said part of the aim was to reduce the number of house calls, given that the number of family doctors is on the decrease, and those who are left tend to be older. The federation estimates some 30-35% of residents of Brussels have no GP of their own, and as a result emergency rooms are over-burdened with patients who ought properly to be treated by a general practitioner. The number of people visiting accident and emergency departments in Brussels is twice as high as in hospitals in other parts of the country, the federation said.

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