In the Netherlands, the general practitioner (GP) is the first point of contact for medical care. The GP assesses complaints and refers patients to specialists or hospital care when necessary. Out-of-hours care is provided by the GP out-of-hours service (GP post).
For more information about how healthcare works in the Netherlands, please visit Healthcare for Internationals (H4i).
Reliable patient information is also available in English via Thuisarts (English information).
We recommend that expats obtain a Dutch SIM card. A Dutch phone number is required to fully use our patient portal, as it is needed for verification and access to all functionalities.