Dutch Health Care
Contents
General Information
In this section everything about the dutch health care system are told. The information can be overwhelming, but before you go into the details, it is good to know the basic idea:
You need to register to a general practitioner (GP) (in dutch: Huisart) before you can visit a doctor. If you become ill and you have not registered to a GP, you cannot visit a doctor before you have been registered. Some GPs are full and decline to have more patients. If you need a specialist, you first have to go to the GP and get a reference from them to the specialist. To go to the hospital for some special case, you also need a reference from you GP. This means you really need your GP for (nearly) any health service. In emergencies you can visit the emergency room, just make sure you have your insurance card (or papers) with you and your ID.
To register to a GP you have to have some health insurance, as they will ask for this. They also will ask for your "burger service nummer" (BSN) which is your "citizen service number". More about this in BSN
Important notice: Ambulances are very expensive (easily € 900) so if you can go to the hospital with a taxi, this is heavily advised.
Emergency Numbers
General emergency number: 112
- Call this in case you need police or medical emergency
If you need a police but it is not an emergency: 0 900 8844
- Crimes can be reported also online.
