In 2023, 15.6% of Dutch people used the GP emergency room at least once, which is slightly lower than last year. This is one of the findings from the annual and trend figures about the GP emergency clinics affiliated with Nivel Zorgregistries Eerste Lijn.
After the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare use via GP emergency posts increased sharply again in 2021 and 2022. Babies, young children (0-4 years) and young people (<18 years) in particular had more contact with the GP emergency room, while care use among the elderly remained the same and itself decreased slightly. In 2023 we will see that this downward trend among the elderly will continue. At the same time, healthcare use by babies and young children also decreased in 2023. As a result, the total use of care via the GP emergency services is lower than in previous years.
Number of contacts with the GP emergency post per 1000 inhabitants within the relevant age group
Declining trend in healthcare use among the elderly
For several years now we have seen a declining trend in the use of care via the GP emergency post by elderly people aged 85 and over. In 2023, elderly people will again have less contact, although the number of elderly people who had contact remained stable. This means that these elderly people have fewer contacts with the GP emergency than in previous years. This contrasts with reports about emergency care, where the number of (non-urgent) contacts with the elderly is increasing. More research is necessary to explain the connection between the increasing use of care in the emergency department on the one hand and the decrease in the GP emergency room on the other.
Fewer young children with fever
In 2023, the number of contacts with the GP emergency post for babies and young children also decreased. There were fewer contacts with the triage nurse for advice (triage consultation) and fewer consultations with the GP on duty. This is reflected in the decrease in the number of contacts due to fever. With 4.4% of all contacts, this is still the number 1 reason for contact with the GP emergency room in 2023, but this share of contacts is lower than in 2022 (5.8%).
View all annual figures and trend figures about care at the GP emergency post
These are some of the findings that support the figures in the annual report ‘Care at the GP emergency: annual figures 2023 and trend figures 2019-2023’. In the report you can read more about the care provided at the GP emergency post in 2023. We discuss, among other things:
- the results of care provision
- the triage
- the complaints with which people come to the GP emergency room
- the medication that is prescribed
About the research
The figures on the care provided at GP emergency posts in 2023 are based on electronically registered data from 26 GP emergency post organizations that participate in Nivel First Line Care Registrations. This provides us with information regarding healthcare use at the GP post in an area of approximately 10.4 million inhabitants, which Nivel has collected and analyzed annually since 2012.
Tags: Annual figures emergency posts elderly people emergency posts
