In short: healthcare in the Netherlands
Maybe you do not yet know how the healthcare system in the Netherlands works, but we will help you learn all about it. That is why we will now tell you, in short, how healthcare is arranged in the Netherlands.
Family Doctor
In the Dutch Healthcare system, the family doctor is very important. A family doctor is a doctor who works from their home or in a health centre, but not in a hospital. The place where the family doctor works we call the 'family doctor practice'. The family doctor works in the practice together with a doctor's assistant, sometimes with a practise-nurse and sometimes with other family doctors. Most Dutch people register with a family doctor. If they are sick or have a question about their health, the Dutch usually go to the family doctor first.
A family doctor can help you with many illnesses. If the family doctor cannot help you or if there is more examination needed, the family doctor will send you to a hospital. We call that a 'referral'.
Specific care
In addition to the family doctor, there are many other types of doctors. For care for your teeth, you can go to a dentist. Doctors also work in the hospitals; many of them have specialisations. They know a lot about one part of the human body, for example about the heart or the lungs. In addition, many people and institutions in the Netherlands provide for care, for example: an optician (eye doctor), a physiotherapist, a nursing home and institutions for Youth Care. Municipalities or cities are involved with medical care, for example research about tuberculosis (TB). They do that via the GGD.
Medication
If you need medication, it will be prescribed by a doctor. We call this a 'prescription'. You can pick up medicine at the pharmacy. Sometimes, there is a pharmacy by the hospital or the doctor's practice, but usually it is in a different place. You can get some medicines without a prescription, for example for headache or fever. You can buy this medicine at the pharmacy's, but also sometimes at a supermarket or drugstore.
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