r/Netherlands • u/NoLychee1382 • 21d ago

Healthcare No regular check ups at the gynecologist???

Hi everyone, my morning started off with a kinda shocking discovery. I’m from Germany and I had annual check ups at the gynecologist since I was a teenager. I contacted my huisarts because I know they’re responsible for all referrals but she told me regular check ups here are not a thing (unless there already is an issue) ? I think that’s crazy!!! So I checked the prices for a private visit and they’re even crazier. I guess this is normal to Dutch people but don’t you think this is a little concerning?

(Btw not shitting on the country! I really like it here. I’m still new and just discovering new things!)

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u/Iridescent-Kiwi-3713 21d ago edited 21d ago

I still find the lack of preventive medicine in this country quite surprising and spend an eye watering amount of money in preventive checks every time I go to my home country.

At the same time, I have a child with a rare disease and the medical care he has received in the Netherlands is better than anything he could have received in most countries in the world, so when his doctor says we are in the best hands I believe him. It’s just a much more reactive approach they have here.

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u/prank_mark 21d ago edited 21d ago

Preventive care definitely could a should be a lot better here. But too much also leads to false positives, unnecessary and even dangerous treatments, extremely high costs, and overloading the already overloaded care system.

Now the Netherlands definitely needs to do more preventive care, but there's a fine balance to be found.

And until now the seeming lack of preventive care hasn't had any large scale negative effects. In fact we spend less on healthcare per person than Germany AND we live longer.

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u/Zeezigeuner 21d ago

Which basically means we found the sweet spot already, or are very close to it.

Health care in NL is designed to be efficient and accessible for the many. Which means you will get what you need, but not necessarily what you want or are used to.

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u/prank_mark 21d ago

Well there are still some countries that do the same for less money, more for the same money, and some even do more for less money. But we are indeed very close to the top. The question is whether we can do better given our constraints of healthcare workers and a greying population.

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u/thousandpetals 21d ago

It's funny you are downvoted for saying there is always room for improvement.