Almost a million Dutch want new house doctor; Most practices not accepting new patients

Almost a million people in the Netherlands are not signed in to the general practitioners that they would prefer. At the same time, many general practitioner centers have had to stop bringing in new patients as they are too full. This was reported by the Netherlands Court of Audit. They have said that there is a shortage of GPs and fear that will increase further in the coming years.

The agency has calculated that around 732,000 people are signed into a general practitioners center while wanting to change doctors. Reasons for this could be that they moved house or because they are not satisfied with the current GP.

In addition, a minimum of 45,000 and possibly 194,000 people are not signed into a GP at all. For some, it is because their old GP closed down, and they can not get a space with another general practitioner. Altogether, this means that one in 20 people in the Netherlands are looking for a new GP, the court of audit reported.

Health insurers can help with the search for a new GP, but the researchers of this report claim that most people are unaware of this. Just under 6,900 people are on the waiting lists at the insurance companies.

Most GPs that are unable to take any more patients are located in the regions of Haaglanden (The Hague and surrounding area), Zuid-Holland-Zuid (Dordrecht and surrounding area), Gooi en Vechtstreek, and near Amersfoort. At least three-quarters of the GP practices there have no space for new clients.

Changing your GP is also difficult as it is now rare that a GP has their own practice. They often choose to work as locums and temporarily replace other GPs when necessary. This has advantages for the doctors, but "without practice owners, there are no practices where patients can register", the Court of Audit stated.

The increase in GP shortage is also due to the increased age of the population. More and more people are needing care. General practitioners are now given more tasks than in the past and they have to deal with the consequences of the care that is getting stuck in other locations.

Another issue related to the shortage is the fact that there are too few GPs being trained. The Netherlands Court of Audit is expecting significant issues in regions like the Achterhoek and the northern part of Noord-Holland as a result.