Hospital group ZAS is starting with appointments at the emergency department of its Middelheim hospital. Anyone who needs medical assistance fairly quickly but whose life is not in danger can make an appointment. ‘With a sprained ankle, for example, you can wait at home,’ says head of department Dr Hannelore Raemen. This means that patients have to spend less time waiting in the hospital itself and the workload for healthcare staff is spread out.
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Antwerp hospital group ZAS launches appointments at A&E in Middelheim
Colin Clapson
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Starting today, you can now make an appointment at the ZAS Middelheim A&E department. You can do this by telephone, online or through your general practitioner. The option is available to people who have non-life-threatening and low-complexity medical problems that do not require immediate treatment.
This includes bruises, sprains, fractures or pains in arms or legs, problems with their neck or back, and the care and treatment of cuts, burns, abrasions and problems with ears, eyes, nose and throat, among other issues.
‘Patients with a sprained ankle or a cut can wait at home for a while before their appointment. We give them instructions on what they can do at home until their appointment,’ says Raemen.
Every day, an average of 120 people present at the ZAS Middelheim A&E. About 30 percent of them are eligible for an appointment because there is no danger to life.
Less time spent waiting for patients, less pressure on healthcare staff
‘If patients arrive at the agreed time, we can treat them more quickly and efficiently. This allows us to separate two streams of patients: those who need urgent help and those who are not in a life-threatening situation. Instead of treating the latter after an average wait of 140 minutes, we can now do so in 60 minutes.’
The measure should also give emergency department staff some breathing space. ‘We can spread their workload more evenly, which reduces pressure and stress.’
20 to 30 appointments per day
Appointments can be made by telephone and online via the ZAS website. ‘When making an appointment, an assessment is also made as to whether a visit to the emergency department is necessary. If not, the patient is referred to their general practitioner. We anticipate 20 to 30 appointments per day.’ A general practitioner can also make an appointment for patients directly.
To be clear: everyone is still welcome without an appointment. ‘It's just an extra service we offer patients, a guarantee that they will be seen within 60 minutes. We will assign one doctor and one nurse to the appointments. Because the complaint we hear most often is that patients had to wait a long time.’
This initiative is also a means for ZAS to prepare for the future. ‘The number of GPs and healthcare providers is set to decline even further, which will increase the pressure on all emergency services. People always want somewhere to go with their issues. Sometimes demand exceeds supply. This system should allow us to spread the pressure.’
The ZAS hospital group has five A&E departments, but for the time being, appointments can only be made at Middelheim Hospital. ‘We will see how it goes. Depending on its success, we will expand the system. We will conduct an initial evaluation in three months.’