Scaling up an online triage system to reduce the pressure on assistants and general practitioners.

The pressure in general practitioner care is increasing. There has been a steady increase in demand for years, but too few GPs and support such as GP assistants. We also notice this in practice (7 general practitioners). The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a huge increase in healthcare demand in primary care. First of all, our own patient population: there are more patient concerns, more psychological complaints and there is avoidance of care in a relatively large number of patients who belong to vulnerable groups. In addition, until recently, care was passed on from secondary care to primary care physicians. Nowadays, the Dutch population also seems to be more likely to call their GP practice for low-urgent matters. General practitioners are overflowing and assistants are overloaded because the pressure on the telephone is high. Moreover, people sometimes demand care that is not reasonably necessary.