General practitioners in Frislin, Groningen and Drenthe are starting a pilot project this month in which they can quickly identify which hospitals have a place for emergency care.

This is what Ernst Kuipers, Minister of Health, Welfare and Sports, wrote in a letter to the House of Representatives. The minister hopes that this will lead to an increase in the flow of patients to the emergency department.

The pilot is preparing a response to the situation last September, when patients in various hospitals in Groningen and Drenthe were brought into emergency rooms where there were no beds available at the time. According to the Northern Holland Acute Care Network (AZNN), a partnership of hospitals in the north, there were adequate backup options at the time.

According to the minister, agreements between northern hospitals and ambulance services have since been improved, including through an experiment with a “control room manager” who can, if necessary, help ambulance staff find a free place in the emergency room. So now general practitioners are getting a better look at availability.