[Ensuring Future Primary Care from a Municipal Perspective].

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Health Policy
• Healthcare Management

Context:

• Growing concern over general practitioner shortages necessitates proactive local health planning.
• Municipalities are increasingly responsible for ensuring accessible primary care services for their residents.
• The study focuses on North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), a region facing significant primary care challenges.

Purpose:

• To analyze the current and future provision of primary care from the perspective of municipalities in NRW.
• To identify key stakeholders and policy interventions required to ensure needs-based primary care close to home.
• To inform future health policy design and resource allocation for primary care services.

Summary:

• A 2023 online survey of 427 NRW municipalities revealed that 86.6% believe local primary care will not be ensured in the next decade.
• Respondents (79.5%) desire more influence over primary care provision.
• Municipalities identified a stronger commitment from Associations of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (85.4%) and increased federal state responsibility (72.4%) as crucial for ensuring future primary care access.

Impact:

• Highlights the critical awareness of municipal leaders regarding impending primary care deficits.
• Underscores the need for collaborative action involving municipalities, statutory health insurance physicians, and federal states.
• Emphasizes the importance of integrating the municipal perspective into strategic planning for securing sustainable primary care.