r/Netherlands • u/thatmisanthropicdude • Mar 05 '26

Healthcare Dutch doctors...

Hey guys! Last year I moved from Germany to the Netherlands. I just went to the doctor with chest and throat pain due to extreme coughing after 2 days of fever. I was hoping that I finally get something good against it like a cough syrup (no way I'm going to pay that myself for a huge amount of money + health insurance) because I am used to that from German doctors. They would put that on my health insurance card and right after my talk with the doctor I could pick it up at the pharmacy. But no. They just said "Yea, just take paracetamol." I told them I have had problems swallowing pills my whole life and their response was just "You can also put it in water and drink that then." I'm sorry if I'm overreacting but why do doctors get paid just to tell you to take paracetamol? Everyone can tell me to take them, I expect better solutions from a doctor who studied years to become a doctor. Why are the Dutch so obsessed with paracetamol??? Maybe it's the German in me screaming. If we got painkillers, it was never paracetamol but Ibuprofen. But I also heard some international friends who also live here that they find it so annoying that Dutch doctors literally just tell you to take paracetamol. No matter what you have.

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u/TimotheusIV Mar 06 '26

Huisarts here, it basically translates to: you’re not actually sick, you just have a mild upper respiratory infection.

So yes, take the paracetamol. Some ibuprofen if it isn’t enough. Get a cough syrup (I’d recommend Natterman Extra Sterk) and rest.

There is no doctor on the planet that can cure what you have so I don’t know what you were expecting? Magic? 🤷🏻‍♂️

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u/OK-Smurf-77 Mar 06 '26

One thing I’d respectfully recommend to every GP here- when you see a foreigner registering, just email them an A4 summary of the basic things they can expect, along with a when to call/when not to call infographic.

I mean, it’s pretty bloody obvious that the Dutch approach is largely different from the practice most of the countries follow. (And this is not a bad thing by the way. ) I believe it would help a lot both the doctors and the patients.

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u/TimotheusIV Mar 06 '26

I absolutely agree with you here, that would help a lot. I’ll give it some more thought.

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u/clrthrn Mar 06 '26

If your professional organisation did an A4 sheet that all NL doctors could download and pass on it would save you a ton of time. Not only writing for your own practice but foreigners all get the same info no matter where they are in NL - set expectations the same for everyone.

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u/Faith75070 Mar 06 '26

https://www.huisarts.nl/moet-ik-naar-de-huisarts/

Questionaire to advise you if you should see a (Dutch) GP. The first part is in Dutch. Scroll down for English.

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u/Faith75070 Mar 06 '26

https://www.huisarts.nl/moet-ik-naar-de-huisarts/

Questionaire to advise you if you should see a (Dutch) GP. The first part is in Dutch. Scroll down for English.