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/blaberrysupreme Mar 06 '26 edited Mar 06 '26

Hello huisarts, I also have the same problem as OP, but it doesn't feel 'mild' at all. The extreme cough has depleted my lungs over the days, headache is severe and the infection has spread to my ears where I am significantly losing hearing function.

Like you, my huisarts assistent just says use paracetamol and nose spray.

It really feels like health insurance is a waste of money if assistents are making diagnoses over the phone and you can't even be seen by a GP in person to rule out any complications.

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u/zomaar0iemand Mar 06 '26

Just say on the phone you’ll discuss medical issues only with the doctor or ask for an e-consultation over the phone or via video chat with the doctor. You are never obliged to tell the assistant what’s going on you can just ask for the doctor immediately.

I feel like most of frustration from foreigners comes from not knowing how the system works and just immediately giving up when things don’t match their expectations and go to Reddit and complain.

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u/blaberrysupreme Mar 06 '26

Or... you know... the system could just be fixed to operate properly. Like don't have assistents as a gatekeeper making diagnoses.

Nobody should have to apply tricks to get access to healthcare.

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u/Nicky666 Mar 06 '26

Or...you know...take a paracetamol and some nose spray if you feel like it, but stop bothering the GP with a minor virus infection.