Jan Delayed blocks seats at clinics and organisers summarise 2nd edition of the #ODODLE #NIEBLOKUJE campaign
- From a few/ten in private clinics to as much as a few tens of per cent (Zelazna Medical Centre)! Such a decrease in the number of missed appointments was recorded by public and private clinics involved in the #Odwoluje #Noblokuje campaign in recent months, according to data presented by their representatives at the conference summarising the activities of the II. edition of the #Odwoluje #Nblokuje campaign.
- Although the campaign is having a visible effect, there is a long way to go before full success is declared. As representatives of the major medical networks pointed out during the meeting, cancellations must be made well in advance so that the next patient can make it in time for the appointment thus 'freed up'.
- A survey conducted for the campaign shows that at the end of September 2023, almost 50 per cent of respondents had already heard of the #Odwoluje #NieBlokuje campaign. In order to reach more, but also to perpetuate good attitudes in everyone, for the past few days patients can encounter life-size stands in selected GP surgeries with the likeness of John Late blocking the queue and access to the doctor's surgery. The ambient campaign aims to visualise to patients the negative consequences of not cancelling appointments with doctors.
#Odisappoints #Disappoints is a campaign launched in 2022 by CMP Medical Centre. Its aim is to educate patients of both public and private facilities and make them aware of the importance of informing the medical facility if we miss an appointment. As a reminder, according to Ministry of Health data for 2019, there are at least 17 million such missed appointments in Poland every year. At the same time, those involved in the campaign are promoting and introducing good practices and solutions for medical facilities so that they can encourage good attitudes among patients as effectively as possible, but also facilitate the process of informing patients about missed appointments. An important aspect of the campaign is to identify pathways to reduce the number of wasted appointments, without placing the sole blame on patients for the current state.
- We decided to visualise the problem of missed appointments more strongly, hence the idea for an ambient campaign in GP surgeries, where the counters of missed appointments and life-size stands with Jan the Late Doctor blocking the place appeared in corridors and surgeries in selected public and private medical facilities. We wanted to involve our staff in the campaign activities so that doctors, nurses and administrative staff became advocates and ambassadors for the campaign, so we jointly created a lot of social media material with a call to action to patients - explains Paweł Walicki, president of the CMP Medical Centre, initiator of the #Ocall, #NotBlock campaign. The ambient action in the facilities is also supported by so-called doctor-Instagrammers, who use their social media reach to join in informing patients about the action.
A key element of the II. edition of the campaign was the development and promotion of a Good Practice Charter for Patients. In the words of Magdalena Kolodziej of the WE the Patients Foundation, This card, which contains a number of specific guidelines and tips for each patient, is a great way to raise public awareness of the importance of cancelling appointments.
The whole environment speaks with one voice
Several million missed appointments per year also represent huge financial losses and wasted potential of the already heavily overburdened health care system in Poland. Meanwhile, cancelling an appointment at least 24 hours in advance gives facilities the opportunity and resource to distribute such appointments to other patients, who can thus count on faster assistance - diagnosis and treatment.
Non-cancellation of doctors' appointments is a problem for the entire health sector, whether we are talking about private or public entities. Above all, it is a loss for the patients themselves who, in many cases, lose the opportunity to to consult your state of health when they need it most. Using the LUX MED network as an example, we are talking about a scale of 25,000 to 30,000 missed appointments per month. Another 130,000 appointments per month are cancelled so late that some of the released appointments are not able to be used by other patients anyway. It is therefore crucial to build public awareness and responsibility in this area, which is why we were keen to get involved in this campaign - comments Anna Rulkiewicz, CEO of the LUX MED Group. In turn, intensive activities to promote the campaign among doctors were carried out by the District Medical Chamber in Warsaw. - Action materials reached more than 32,000 doctors, promoting accessibility, efficiency and equal access to healthcare for all– says Piotr Pawliszak, President of the Warsaw District Medical Chamber, a substantive partner of the campaign.
The #odisables #odisables campaign was part of this year's Zero Waste Fair, in line with the theme of treating every visit as a resource not to be wasted. During the event, the organisers promoted the campaign to attendees, engaging many of them to become Campaign Ambassadors.
The closing meeting of the II. edition of the #Ocalls #NotBlocks campaign was attended by representatives of all co-organisers: Paweł Walicki - CMP Medical Centre, Anna Rulkiewicz - LUX MED, Wojciech Łukasiewcz - Medicover, Aleksandra Brzezińska _ PZU Zdrowie, Joanna Kusy - Żelazna Medical Centre, Marcin Fiedziukiewicz - Kliniki.pl, Piotr Radecki - ZnanyLekarz.pl, Piotr Pawliszak - District Medical Chamber in Warsaw, Urszula Szybowicz - Polish Federation of Hospitals, Nie Widac Po Mnie Foundation, Magdalena Kołodziej - MY Pacjenci Foundation, Igor Grzesiak - Institute for Patient Rights and Health Education, Dariusz Piaścik - Sagenso, Daniel Nowocin - Medidesk, Wojciech Przechodzeń - Talkie.
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Campaign #ODWOLUJE #NIEBLOKJE is a campaign initiated in 2022 by the CMP Medical Centre, which within a few months achieved nationwide coverage - more than 600 medical facilities from all over Poland joined it. In 2023, the campaign was recognised in plebiscites such as PR Wings and Golden Clips.