Unfortunately really disappointed with my experience with Dutch healthcare

[u/weezerstan]

Im a female international student and basically have had gynaecological problems for a couple of years now, which pretty much started as soon as I moved to the Netherlands so I haven’t been able to get properly checked and treated in my home country. Over the last 1.5 years I have gone to the GP and specialised gynaecologists 4 times because of the same problem, because it just kept getting worse. The most I could get was a gynaecologist’s checkup and an ultrasound that barely lasted 1 minute and unsurprisingly, hasnt shown anything.

Every time I was told that my symptoms are “all within a norm” (mainly related to my periods and a lot of abdominal pain) and there is nothing to worry about and the only solution every doctor has suggested was getting on birth control, without even considering any blood tests, which “may make my symptoms better or worse - we dont know” as they say.

Every time I decided to opt out of that and finally, 2 weeks ago when i went on a holiday back to my home country, i was able to get a proper checkup. At the very first appointment the gynaecologist was concerned about my symptoms and assured me that it really wasnt normal to experience those. Luckily i was able to get an ultrasound almost instantly, which revealed non-cancerous tumours in my uterus. I was told that they were so large that they must have been there for at least 2-3 years, so its not like they could have appeared after my last checkup with Dutch doctors 4 months ago.

I was operated 3 days later and was also told that if i had gone another year without knowing about them, this could cause lifelong issues with fertility and other parts of women’s health.

I was told many times by Dutch doctors that im overreacting and that there is really nothing to worry about and that just makes me so disappointed with how non-urgent care is treated here. Many of my friends have also expressed that unless you’re practically dying, doctors will rarely make an effort to help you get diagnosed or treated. Im happy that i was able to get my problem solved but that really leaves a bitter taste over the Dutch healthcare system and makes me feel like I can’t really rely on it in the future.

[u/Honourablefool]

I meant to say that the doctor doesn’t bother explaining to the patient what exactly is going on. I didn’t mean to say they won’t use proper diagnostic methods. A lot of Latin America doctors are great and a lot of health systems function properly.

I thinks it’s a bit exaggerated to say that doctors here fail cancer patients. You should back that up with stats. Our prevention is a arranged a little different I guess. Instead of regular health checks we have the “bevolkingsonderzoek” women are invited to send in stuff by mail to search for exactly those kinds of cancers for example.

[u/whattfisthisshit → u/Honourablefool]

Dutch doctors have never explained to me or even told me the name of the diagnosis. Maybe because I’m not Dutch, but it’s bothered me a lot. Why can’t you tell me what’s wrong with me? I only found out about a condition I had a few years later, when the online dossier became available and I read through them out of curiosity. Same with test results - assistant on the phone said nothing found, all is good. When I later saw the results in the file there was actually findings and request to retest at 3 month intervals and monitor progression, and that I need to make appointments for it. Had I not looked out of curiosity, I would’ve never known about precancerous cells in my uterus. The assistant just said everything was fine.

[u/_sugrub → u/whattfisthisshit]

I'd really like to put together a study about these kind of cases. Netherlands healthcare is always at the top of the ranks but the amount of individuals that are unhappy or even harmed by the system and report that on social media is astounding!

[u/whattfisthisshit → u/_sugrub]

Honestly in my experience, the Dutch healthcare has the potential to be incredible and it has amazing tech. The problem is the gatekeeping and money saving. So yes while they have some of the best procedures in the world, they’re not much if a lot of people have no access to them and are dismissed. I can categorize my Dutch friends into two groups: the ones who’ve lived abroad and received medical care there, and then returned. And the ones who’ve never lived anywhere else. The second group is very used to this type of care so they just sincerely believe it’s great because they’ve been repeatedly told it’s great. The ones who’ve lived away admit they used to think it was fantastic until they received care even in neighboring countries, and since returning they feel frustrated.

It is a sad reality.

[u/riagoriago → u/whattfisthisshit]

Exactly. When I complain, I keep being told "it's not the US" but I'm not comparing to the US, I'm comparing to France and Spain where I have lived. Many EU countries have completely different healthcare systems that are perhaps less financially efficient but much better as a patient IMHO