How does health care work in the Netherlands?

Your local GP (family physician, huisarts in Dutch) is your first point of contact for non-urgent medical care. If needed, he or she will refer you to a specialist or hospital for further treatment.

If you need urgent medical care, you can go to the Accident and Emergency department (Spoedeisende Hulp) at your nearest hospital or call an ambulance using the emergency telephone number 112.

Please note: Once you have registered as a resident in the Netherlands, you will need to register with your local GP. We recommend that you do this as soon as possible, as it may be difficult to find a family doctor who will see you on short notice if you are not a registered patient. Some GPs have a waiting list or a registration procedure that takes some time. There may be several family physicians in your area. In that case you can choose the one you prefer.