DutchIn the Netherlands almost all healthcare starts with one person: the huisarts, your family doctor. Here is how it works, when to call whom, and what to say on the phone.
Short answer: register with a huisarts close to your home as soon as you live here. For anything that is not an emergency you call the huisarts first; for a specialist or the hospital you usually need their referral (verwijzing). In the evening and at the weekend you call the huisartsenpost, and in a life-threatening situation 112.
1 Register with a huisarts
A huisarts only takes patients who live nearby, so look for one close to your address and ask if they take new patients (Neemt u nieuwe patiënten aan?). Do it before you are ill: in a busy city it can take a while to find one. You register with your name, address, date of birth, BSN and health insurance.
2 Making an appointment
Most practices want you to call in the morning. The doktersassistent (assistant) answers and asks a few questions first, so the doctor sees the people who need it most first. This is what a call can sound like:
AssistantHuisartsenpraktijk, goedemorgen.
YouGoedemorgen, u spreekt met Amal Haddad. Ik wil graag een afspraak maken.
AssistantWat is uw geboortedatum? En waar gaat het om?
YouMijn zoon heeft sinds drie dagen koorts en hij hoest veel.
AssistantKunt u vanmiddag om kwart over twee komen?
Tip: write down before you call what is wrong, since when, and which medicines you take. Say Kunt u dat herhalen? (Can you repeat that?) or Mag het in het Engels? (Can we speak English?) when you need to. Most assistants will help you.
3 Who do you call when?
| Situation | Call |
|---|---|
| Ill, pain, a question about your health, on a weekday | Your huisarts, in the morning |
| Urgent, but not life-threatening, in the evening, at night or at the weekend | The huisartsenpost (call first, don't just go) |
| Life-threatening: unconscious, severe bleeding, chest pain | 112 |
| Medicines with a prescription (recept) | The apotheek (pharmacy) |
4 What does it cost?
Health insurance (zorgverzekering) is compulsory for everyone who lives or works here. Visits to the huisarts are covered and do not count towards your eigen risico (the amount you pay yourself first each year). Hospital care and many medicines do. Check your own policy to be sure.
Expats joke that the Dutch huisarts prescribes paracetamol for everything. Often it is exactly the right advice; and if it does not help, call again and say so.
Partner tip Rehearse the phone call before it is real. The partner plays the doktersassistent and asks what they always ask: Wat zijn de klachten? Sinds wanneer? The learner answers from the sofa, phone to the ear for the feeling. Do it twice: the second time always goes better, and that is the point.
Test yourself
It is Saturday evening and your child has a high fever that worries you. Who do you call?
The huisartsenpost: urgent, outside office hours, but not life-threatening. Call them before you go.
How do you say "I would like to make an appointment" in Dutch?
Ik wil graag een afspraak maken.
