loss Health Center Seville province lost last year 59,100 family medicine appointments How many people did not attend the consultation after fixing the day and time? figure assumes Every day hang in the balance more than 160 quotes, A situation that causes a gap in the busy schedule of professionals, but which is not covered because they have not been canceled, which accelerates the waiting time, the collapse of emergencies and the hatred of health professionals.
data provided by Andalusian Health Service (SAS) consider the fact of non-attendance at the clinic on the required day and time and not answering the phone when the doctor calls, since with the advent of the pandemic in March 2020 many of the primary care appointments of a mild Is. limited to one call. In other words, following protocols for fulfilling requests through various existing channels (Salad Responde app and phone, ClickSalad+ or visiting the health center in person or calling), no one turned up for an appointment when it was their turn So for reasons that will never be known as there is no justification for loss of service.
In percentage terms, according to the same sources, the Sevillian missed last year 6,87% Out of a total of 860,258 appointments booked with Family Doctor. The percentages are replicated at similar levels in all health districts of the province.
a handicap, by no means a minor one, which prolongs the waiting time to make an appointment, which in some cases goes on for more than a week, and accelerates degradationand not only in primary care, but also in hospital emergency servicesGiven that there are many people who decide to use this service after not being able to resolve their issue with their family doctor.
“All the responsibility should not fall on the health system. We must also appeal to the responsibility of the citizenry”, recalls Pilar Terceno, family doctor and president of the Andalusian Society of Family and Community Medicine (samFYC), who insists that the appointments that are made but then used is not done “They also contribute to the collapse of the system.”
Terceno defended that, although it is true that the difficulties in accessing an appointment at a health center are caused by organizational issues, it is also true that in some cases there is an absence of user influence and, with it, the waste of these consultations. According to SamFYC’s president’s estimate, it is “normal” for 35 patients on the agenda “that they miss between two and three every day.” “It may seem like a very little, but in practice we are talking about 10% of what has been assigned on the agenda that is left to be done. It means a lot when we are talking about difficulty in placement or that there are people who can’t get to regular appointments when they need to, so they’re going to emergency point without requiring it from the health center or hospital, delaying care for people who really need urgent care”, he insists.
Health Administration reminds that there are Multiple options for canceling assigned appointments: Through the Salud Responde application, on the ClicSalud+ website or directly at the health center by calling 955 54 50 69. “It’s a very simple gesture. There are means to cancel them in the same mobile application. Sometimes something is forgotten or comes up that is complicated to attend at the end and with just one click you can place that And can free it to take advantage of. As things stand, it will take about two seconds to reassign”, he added.
Terceno stresses that canceling a medical appointment that she ultimately won’t be able to attend is in everyone’s benefit. “The patient, the doctor and the health system, in general,” he pretty much sums it up. “We must insist on airing it solidarity thoughts So that people become aware of the importance of canceling it and leaving a gap for someone else”, says Pilar Terceino.
The situation is repeated throughout the Andalusian community, where, according to the results of the General Directorate of Health Care and SAS, 52 million primary care consultations have been lost since 2015. With figures up to last September, Andalusians missed 8.6% of appointments at health centres.
