Around 400 general practitioners took to the streets in the Western city of Tournai on Wednesday to protest a new regulation that increases their nighttime workload, Sudinfo reports.
Abysm Wallonia, the association of medical unions, also called for a work stoppage for all Walloon GPs between 10:00 and 11:00 on Wednesday.
The doctors are denouncing the removal of a patient sorting and referral service during the night. Since the functioning of the 1733 emergency number was changed in March, practitioners on call must respond to all requests between 23:00 and 08:00 for the additional pay of €7,14 per hour.
"We are called to care for patients who ask for prescriptions that are not urgent, but there have also been cases where a patient locked a doctor in his home because he did not give him the requested prescription", Madeline Votron, a general physician in the Tournais region told RTBF.
Deteriorating care
The increased workload has caused stress, fatigue, demotivation as well as insecurity among doctors who are already overworked, says the GBO union of French-speaking GPs.
Since 2012, the 1733 number put patients in touch with dispatchers who would help them establish if their issue is urgent or not, including during the night shift. GPs would only intervene in cases of intolerable pain, death certificates or for patients in nursing homes or palliative care.
Now, doctors must handle more calls and travel more often during the night. This requires a bigger staff since there must always be one practitioner available at the hospital. At the same time, Belgium is facing a shortage of GPs, with one in five doctors having to turn away patients, according to a survey from April.
The GBO warns that the new system risks further undermining patient care as doctors are unable to rest properly. This may affect their performance during the day shifts.
"We support this wake-up call from the field to convince our political leaders of the urgent need for political action to make the 1733 service effective throughout Belgium," the union said in a statement regarding the strike in Tournai.
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The GBO calls for night shifts to be organised such that GPs can stay at home during late hours in case there is a low number of emergency calls. The union demands an external secretariat to handle calls and the provision of drivers for doctors.
"The well-being of doctors is one of the objectives of the latest medical-mutual agreement, but where is it? What about work-life balance?," said Luc Henry, president of Abysm Wallonia.
