Number of patients per family physician is sounding the alarm: Health targets missed again

In the 12th Development Plan covering the 2024-2028 period, which was submitted to Parliament, the targets regarding family medicine and university hospitals in particular drew attention. The plan stated, as in the previous development plan, that the population per family physician would be reduced to 2,700.

According to the report by Sibel Bahçetepe from BirGün, it is noteworthy that the target for the population per physician has remained the same in the last two development plans covering a 10-year period.

The government's 2023 targets, which included the statement "Our goal is to realize a structure where an average of 3,200 people per family physician in 2015, 2,550 in 2019, and 2,000 in 2023 fall under each physician," have once again not been met.

The family medicine system, which spread across the country in 2010, has begun to sound the alarm. This situation was also reflected in the 12th Development Plan for 2024-2028, prepared by the Presidency's Strategy and Budget Directorate.

THE TARGET REMAINED THE SAME

In the Development Plan submitted to Parliament last week, the views regarding the situation of family medicine and university hospitals in particular drew attention. While it was emphasized that health services are one of the most important elements in achieving the goals of the Development Plan, the following points were summarized:

"The improvement of distribution between regions and the increase in the quality and quantity of physical infrastructure and human resources will be ensured. In this context, it is aimed to reduce the population per family physician from 3,040 to 2,700 by improving the health services provided by family physicians in terms of quality and quantity. The management model of university hospitals will be brought to an effective and sustainable structure in terms of education, research, and service delivery functions."

INSUFFICIENT RESOURCES ALLOCATED TO UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS

Dr. Fikret Şahin, one of the former presidents of the Balıkesir Medical Chamber, stated that the 12th Development Plan reveals that the targets are far from being met, and said: "Citizens' inability to get appointments is at the top of health problems. Furthermore, the fact that tests can only be performed after a very long time or cannot be performed at all, and the increasing migration of physicians abroad and violence in healthcare have caused the problems in the field of health services to increase day by day. Moreover, the targets in the plan regarding university hospitals are an admission of the poor state these hospitals have been forced into. The most important reason for this is the AKP government's desire to pave the way for city hospitals by not allocating sufficient resources to university hospitals."

"POPULATION PER FAMILY PHYSICIAN MUST BE REDUCED RAPIDLY"

Dr. Emrah Kırımlı, Head of the Family Medicine Branch of the Turkish Medical Association (TTB), stated that the average population per family physician in the country is currently around 3,500 and said, "The Ministry of Health gives the average population per family physician as 3,000, but this is not the case. There are about two thousand virtual family physicians across Turkey, meaning those without a population. When these are included in the average, the figure of 3,000 emerges, but this is not realistic. The population per family physician must be reduced rapidly." Stating that if this does not happen, preventive health services cannot be provided in a qualified manner, Kırımlı added, "60-70 outpatient examinations are being conducted per day. Unfortunately, it is becoming a situation where only tasks like prescribing medication and ordering tests can be done there."