[Walk in clinics and out-of-hours care: 10 years later]

Abstract

The provision of care in general practice has changed significantly over recent years due to changes in the lifestyles of both doctors and patients. Moreover, the "inappropriate" use of emergency services is a critical issue which requires urgent attention. We conducted a review of both the Belgian and international literature to examine how frontline care has adapted and what issues these developments raise. In many countries, specific structures, such as walk-in clinics, out-of-hours centers, the deputizing services, have emerged creating a professional system of frontline care delivery. In Belgium, the Health and Disability Insurance system delegates the organization of out-of-hours primary care to local general practice assemblies who can develop services according to local requirements. In effect, new service delivery systems draw from a variety of models implemented in countries such as Canada, the United States or The Netherlands.