A Doctor When You Need One
Can You Guarantee To Find A Doctor When You Need One?
An Econex study performed on behalf of the Hospital Association of South Africa revealed that, in the public sector, there are 25 doctors per 100 000 people, whilst the ratio for the private sector is almost four times higher at 92 per 100 000. More significantly, these figures amount to just 16% and 62% of the world average of 152 per 100 000 respectively. This could well explain why it is often hard to find a doctor when you need one.
The figures include both general practitioners and specialists, which means that their impact on primary care is even greater than the overall numbers suggest. In both sectors, the result is increased pressure on healthcare professionals which, coupled with the fact that their services are restricted to office hours, has led to patients needing to wait days or even weeks for an appointment. In practice, it is not so much the inability to find a doctor that is the problem as the difficulty in finding one who is free to see you at your convenience.
All too frequently, the only viable alternative to a protracted wait for an appointment at some future date is to present oneself at the A&E department of the nearest hospital. There, at least, one can expect to be attended to within a matter of hours. This, however, often places an unjustified added burden on an already-busy department and also carries the risk that a medical-aid scheme might not cover the costs involved. To help more patients find a doctor when they need one, the Intercare Group offers a third alternative.
An established leader in its field, the group is also known for the innovative thinking that has enabled it to develop a new, more efficient, and more cost-effective private-healthcare model for South Africans. The twin cornerstones of the group’s basic philosophy are accessibility and patient-centric service. In terms of the former, the decision to extend the consulting hours of its healthcare professionals to include evenings, weekends, and even public holidays is making it a whole lot easier for patients to find a doctor who is willing and able to see them at relatively short notice.
The other feature that distinguishes an Intercare medical centre from the average primary-care facility is that its patients have access to facilities that they would not normally find at a GP’s surgery. These include pathology labs and radiography equipment as well as the professional services of dieticians, physiotherapists and psychologists. In addition to these benefits, the option to either phone or book an appointment easily and conveniently online means Intercare’s patients never struggle to find a doctor.