Frequently Asked Questions
I AM NOT A PATIENT (YET)
The first step is registering yourself at the municipality, so you get a BSN number. Those working in the Netherlands are then obligated to take out public health insurance (basisverzekering). You must arrange this within 4 months and it will be backdated to the day of your arrival. For more information about the public health insurance, please go to this page.
If you are an international student without a paid internship or job, you do not qualify for this Basisverzekering. You can either keep using your European Health Insurance Card, or take out private insurance such as InsureToStudy.
The practice is open for new registrations. You are eligible if:
- You live in our care area, and;
You have a Dutch “Basisverzekering” insurance OR one of the following: InsureToStudy, OOM GHU/NNAM, ONVZ Health. - If you are unsure if you are eligible to register, you can e-mail us your zipcode and insurance company. We do not make exceptions, please do not ask.
Note: This means AON student insurance and OOM SIN are not accepted.
To register, please visit our Registrations page.
If you are having trouble finding a GP but you do have mandatory Dutch health insurance (Basisverzekering) you can contact your insurer to help you find a GP.
If you do not have the Basisverzekering you will have a hard time registering anywhere. You can get general practitioner care at our partner International Health Centre Rotterdam. They will see you as a casual patient (non-registered patient).
You are free to choose any pharmacy you want.
Pharmacies in the city centre:
Apotheek Westblaak
Apotheek Spanhoff
Apotheek Ramleh
Apotheek Erasmus
BENU Apotheek Wester in Rotterdam
You can register online via their website. Please remember to inform us if you switch pharmacies.
If it is not urgent, you can get general practitioner care at our partner International Health Centre Rotterdam. They will see you as a casual patient (non-registered patient).
I AM A PATIENT
Intake with the GP: You do not need to book a doctor’s appointment just for an intake. Your first-ever appointment can serve as an intake at the same time, contact us by phone or e-mail to make it a double (20-minute) appointment.
Intake about the healthcare system and our practice: Raveena is our international consultant and provides intakes by phone, to run you through general information as well as to answer your questions.
We do not assign you to any GP.
You are entirely free to choose with which doctor you want to book an appointment with. We do ask you to return to the same GP in case of a follow-up appointment. If you want to see the same doctor every time, that’s no problem. They do all work part-time.
Here you can see all of our GPs. All of our staff speaks English.
You can make an appointment with the GP online. For our nurse practitioners or psychologists, you can call us on weekdays between 8:00-12:00. In case of urgent appointments, definitely call us instead of going through the patient portal.
You can make an appointment via MijnGezondheid.net.
You will receive a confirmation by e-mail.
Please cancel your appointment 24 hours in advance (weekdays only), so we have the time to schedule another patient in your place.
You can do this by e-mailing us at info@hapwijnhaven.nl on weekdays.
Unexpected crises or unexpected situations can happen, and we do understand this, but we may have to bill you a no-show fee if you do not cancel in a timely manner:
€ 15,00 (10-minute appointment)
€ 30,00 (20-minute appointment)
You are assigned to a pharmacy from the moment we register you. This means that every prescription will be sent there, digitally. Registering with this pharmacy is recommended, for services such as a text message when your medication is ready for pick-up.
A repeat prescription is for medication that you have used recently.
You can request a repeat prescription via MijnGezondheid.net. If you do not see your medication in the list, you can send a message to the doctor.
You can also get your repeat prescription by calling our prescription line: Call 010 – 411 12 07, press 2.
This line can be reached 24/7. Please clearly state your name and date of birth, as well as the name and dosage of the medication. Lastly, whether you’d like it to be delivered to your home or not.
You may be used to going to the gynaecologist in your home country. In The Netherlands, this is done by your own GP. Every woman from the age of 30 gets a pap smear every 5 years, from the age of 50 there are breast cancer screenings as well. Of course, if your gynaecological issues are out of the GP’s expertise, you will get a referral.
When it comes to pregnancy, you sign up for a midwife. She will follow your pregnancy from start to end, and will be your first point of contact. She can tell you when to go to the GP for certain supplements, medical issues or screenings.
Your GP is your first point of contact for medical issues, and they can refer you to a specialist if needed. We do not have in-house specialists at this time.
The following healthcare providers do not require a referral: Physiotherapists, midwives, dieticians, opticians, audiologists, dentists, holistic therapists.
For the dentist, physiotherapist, midwife, you need to seek out their respective practices.
On weekdays 8:00-17:00, you can call us: 010 – 411 12 07 (Press 1 for emergencies).
Outside of these hours, you can call the urgent care clinic. Note that this is truly only for things that cannot wait until your own GP is available.
Your GP is not allowed to issue a medical certificate.
As long as you are still insured (Dutch insurance), you will never pay anything at the practice. GP care is exempt from the deductible/co-pay (eigen risico).
Medication, lab tests or any other things outside of our practice will be subject to your deductible. They will bill your health insurer, who will then bill you.
If you have a private contracted insurance, such as InsureToStudy, we will directly bill them. They will then ask you to fill out a form and issue us the consultation fee.
If you are uninsured, you will pay casual patient fees before each consultation. These fees vary between €15,46 and €61,83 (in 2021).
If you are seeing consultation charges; it could be that we had contact through phone or e-mail. In certain cases, we can claim a consultation fee for this.
If it’s quarterly charges (first of January, April, July, October) then it’s the subscription fee. Even if you do not use our services, your insurance pays a fee for them.
We are very sorry to hear you had a negative experience with someone in our team. Please try to solve it first by talking to the doctor concerned. If it’s about other staff, please make an appointment with doctor V.T. Nguyen or doctor M. Siawash.
- Discuss your complaint with the doctor it concerns. If it’s about an assistant or nurse practitioner, you can discuss it with doctor V.T. Nguyen or doctor M. Siawash.
- If you wish to file an official complaint, please refer to the SKGE (Foundation Complaints & Disputes Primary care). Their website is in Dutch unfortunately, so their contact information can be found here.
I AM LEAVING THE PRACTICE
Fill out the form here. If you are going abroad, we can email you your records upon request. Note that these will be entirely in Dutch.
Useful links
GPinfo.nl – trustworthy information in English about
health and diseases, made by Dutch doctors
Thuisarts – the Dutch version (more topics available)
Zorgwijzer – comparing different Dutch health insurances.
Expat Centre – specialised one stop shop for expats in Rotterdam
For questions or feedback
info@hapwijnhaven.nl for medical inquiries
admin@hapwijnhaven.nl for everything else