What a huisarts does
A huisarts is a general practitioner in the Netherlands: your first doctor for everyday health problems. You go to your GP when you are ill, need advice or need a prescription. The GP is also the gatekeeper to the hospital. For specialist care you need a referral (verwijzing) from your GP. Many practices also have a praktijkondersteuner (POH), a practice nurse who helps patients with chronic conditions or mental health complaints.
You do not have to register with a GP by law. The government recommends it for three reasons:
- you always have a doctor you can contact
- you can use the huisartsenpost in the evening, at night and at weekends
- your health history is kept in one medical file
If you live or work in the Netherlands, you must have Dutch basic health insurance (basisverzekering), and it pays for GP visits. Read Dutch health insurance basics if you are not insured yet.
How to register with a GP in the Netherlands
You can usually choose your own GP. Registering takes a few steps:
- Look for practices close to your home. Search for "huisarts" and your town, or check your insurer's list of contracted GPs.
- Call or visit the practice and ask whether it accepts new patients.
- Complete the practice's registration. Each practice organises this itself, so ask what it needs from you.
Before you choose, you can ask for an introductory talk with a GP.
A GP may refuse you in three situations: you live too far away, the practice is full, or the GP cannot agree with certain care wishes, such as a request for euthanasia. Start close to home, because distance is a common reason for a refusal.
If no practice accepts you, contact your health insurer. The insurer will help you search and can mediate with a practice.
How to change GP in the Netherlands
You can switch GP whenever you like, for example after a move. Do it in this order:
- Ask the new GP whether the practice can take you on.
- Tell your old GP that you are leaving: in person, by phone or in writing.
- Ask your old GP to send your medical file to the new practice.
Do not leave your old GP before the new practice has accepted you. Changing GP is separate from changing health insurer.
What is the huisartsenpost? Out-of-hours GP care
The huisartsenpost is the out-of-hours GP service. You call it for urgent problems that cannot wait while your own practice is closed: in the evening, at night or at the weekend. A doctor or assistant first assesses on the phone how urgent your complaint is. Then you may get advice or be asked to come in. You may also be told to see your own GP during office hours, or be sent to hospital.
- Life-threatening? Call 112 straight away.
- Urgent, but your practice is closed? Call the huisartsenpost.
- Thinking of the hospital emergency department? Always call the huisartsenpost first, unless the situation is life-threatening.
Referrals and home visits
For specialist care, such as a hospital, you need a referral letter when your GP finds it medically necessary. Without a valid referral, you may have to pay for the treatment yourself. Your GP does not have to refer you just because you ask, but must explain why not. You have the right to read your referral letter.
Some care needs no referral, such as a physiotherapist or a dietitian, unless your policy says otherwise. Whether it is paid depends on your basic and supplementary insurance.
For serious complaints, a GP can visit you at home. The GP decides whether a home visit is medically necessary; you cannot demand one. When your own GP is away, another GP or the huisartsenpost takes over.
What GP care costs
Visits to the huisarts and the huisartsenpost are fully reimbursed by your basic insurance. They do not use your eigen risico (€385 in 2026). Care at the hospital emergency department does count toward it, and so can blood tests and medicines your GP prescribes. Our guide to the eigen risico explains what counts.
On your insurer's statement you may see an inschrijftarief. This is a fee per quarter that your insurer pays the practice for each registered patient. You do not pay it yourself.
The huisarts in the KNM exam
Health and healthcare (Gezondheid en gezondheidszorg) is one of the eight themes of the KNM exam. Since 2025, the role of the praktijkondersteuner is part of it. The questions ask about facts and rules: who you call when you are ill, when you call 112, and why you need a referral for a specialist. Practise them with our KNM practice questions.