WILLEMSTAD - The Curaçao General Practitioners Association (CHV) is going to investigate the situation surrounding the so-called self-referrers. These are patients who report to the hospital without the intervention of the GP. The association will do this in response to reports in the media in which GPs are accused of failing to fulfill their responsibility for accessibility and care.
However, according to the CHV, it appears that the motivation of self-referrals is generally not based on the inaccessibility of the GP but on the patient's own factors. The CHV would like to emphasize that most general practitioners are available to their patients in the best of their knowledge. The number of physical and telephone consultations increased enormously during the Covid-19 crisis and most GPs not only take their responsibility in providing medical care to Covid patients, but also roll up their sleeves to support the Health Department (GGD) in addition to regular care.