Waiting times of a year or longer at some Dutch hospitals as doctor shortage grows

Waiting times for treatment at Dutch hospitals vary widely between treatments and hospitals, even hospitals in the same region, NOS reports based on the latest figures from the Dutch Healthcare Authority. The biggest differences are in waiting times for the specialties gastrointestinal and liver (GI), ophthalmology, and dermatology. Some hospitals can help patients quickly, while at others, the waiting time is a year or longer. Doctors blame staff shortages in these specialties.

For example, patients can get an appointment at the GI clinic at Maastricht UMC within 30 days. At the nearby Zuyderland Hospital, the waiting time is 360 days. There are similar differences between Hilversum and Amersfoort. Hospitals in The Hague and Zuid-Limburg also have long waiting times.

Manon Spaander, chair of the Dutch Association of Gastroenterologists, is not surprised by the long waiting times. According to her, too few doctors are training to be gastroenterologists. “Until ten years ago, there were 40 training places annually. Then the number was halved.” At the same time, the number of patients needing GI care has increased significantly, as have the treatment options, Spaander told the broadcaster.

"The Western lifestyle of eating a lot of meat, fewer fibers and vegetables, and less exercise results in more abdominal complaints that gastroenterologists have to examine,” Spaander said. And while more treatment options mean helping more people, it also means a higher demand on scarce capacity.

Ophthalmology outpatient clinics are facing similar issues. At the Isala hospitals in Zwolle, Kampen, and Meppel, the waiting time for treatment is over 2 years. At other hospitals, including in Scheemda, Coevorden, Hardenberg, and Arnhem, you have to wait over 150 days for an appointment.

According to ophthalmologist Hans Vingerling, chairman of the Dutch Ophthalmological Society, the pressure on ophthalmologists has increased enormously. “There are more elderly people. Most eye diseases, such as cataracts, occur among them,” he told NOS. “We can do much more with eye diseases that affect the elderly. On the one hand, that is fortunate, because people can retain their vision. But that also has a downside, because if more ophthalmologists do not come, things will grind to a halt."

For dermatology, the longest waiting times are over 100 days at hospitals in Goeree-Overflakkee, Oost-Nederland, and Scheemda. Dermatologists treat skin cancer, the most common type of cancer in the Netherlands. The number of cases is also growing as more people travel to sunny destinations or have tanning beds at home. At the same time, the specialty faces increasing staff shortages.