How to get urgent medical help in NL

If someone's life is in immediate danger, or every second counts, call 112 now. For urgent problems that are not life-threatening, the Dutch route usually starts with your GP while the practice is open and the local huisartsen-spoedpost when it is closed. The hospital emergency department (spoedeisende hulp, SEH) is normally reached through that triage unless the situation is life-threatening. This guide helps you choose the route; it does not diagnose symptoms.

Do not spend time collecting documents if the situation may be life-threatening. Call 112. Otherwise, have the patient's name, date of birth, address, medication information and BSN or insurance details if they are immediately available. If you are not registered with a GP, say so when you call a local practice or the huisartsen-spoedpost; do not wait to register before seeking urgent help. For suicidal thoughts or an acute mental-health crisis, use the same safety rule: call 112 for immediate danger; otherwise contact the GP or huisartsen-spoedpost, and 113 Zelfmoordpreventie can also provide anonymous support for suicidal thoughts.

Choose by urgency and whether your GP practice is open. This guide routes you to care; it does not diagnose the cause of your symptoms.

• Someone's life is in immediate danger or every second counts

  Call 112 now. The emergency operator connects you to the appropriate emergency service, including an ambulance when medical help is needed. Do not spend time choosing a hospital emergency department first.

• It is urgent, not life-threatening, and your GP practice is open

  Call your GP and use the practice's urgent or emergency option. The assistant or GP triages the situation and can arrange immediate assessment, a home visit, hospital care or an ambulance when needed.

• It is urgent, not life-threatening, and your GP practice is closed

  Contact the local huisartsen-spoedpost first. The triagist decides whether advice is enough, whether you should attend the post, whether a GP should call or visit, or whether ambulance or hospital care is needed.

• You are not sure whether it needs urgent medical care

  Use Thuisarts for symptom-specific information about when to call, or contact your GP or huisartsen-spoedpost for clinical triage. Do not rely on a general HowToIn guide to diagnose symptoms.

• There is an acute mental-health crisis or suicidal thoughts

  If a life is in immediate danger, call 112. If there is no immediate life danger but urgent professional help is needed, contact the GP or huisartsen-spoedpost. For suicidal thoughts, 113 Zelfmoordpreventie also offers anonymous phone and chat support and tells people to call 112 when life is in immediate danger.

1. 1

   Decide whether this is a 112 emergency

   If someone's life is in immediate danger, or every second counts, call 112 immediately. The 112 operator connects you to the appropriate emergency service. For a medical emergency that can include an ambulance. If the situation is not life-threatening, continue to the GP or huisartsen-spoedpost route rather than using 112 as a general medical advice line.

   Do this: Call 112 now when there is immediate life danger. Tell the operator what has happened, what help is needed and where you are, then follow the operator's instructions.

   Processing time

   Immediately when a life is in danger or every second counts.

   Common mistake: Do not delay a 112 call to collect documents, check insurance or choose which hospital to drive to.

   Official source

   Government.nl · When to call 112
2. 2

   Decide whether the problem can wait for normal GP care

   If there is no immediate life danger but you think a doctor is needed quickly, use the urgent GP route. If you are unsure whether the problem needs urgent medical attention, Thuisarts provides symptom-specific information about when to call a doctor, and the GP or huisartsen-spoedpost can triage the situation. HowToIn should not diagnose the cause or severity of a symptom for you.

   Do this: If it can wait, use the normal GP route. If it cannot wait or you are unsure, contact the GP while the practice is open or the huisartsen-spoedpost when it is closed.

   Processing time

   Make the routing decision as soon as you realise the problem may need medical attention before normal GP care is available.

   Common mistake: Do not treat a list of example symptoms as a complete emergency rule. Use professional triage when you are unsure.

   Official source

   Thuisarts · Urgent care: who to call
3. 3

   Call your GP while the practice is open

   For an urgent problem that is not life-threatening, call your own GP while the practice is open and use its urgent or emergency option where available. The assistant or GP asks questions and decides what is needed. That can be advice, an immediate GP assessment, a home visit, hospital contact or an ambulance. If you are not registered with a GP, do not wait to complete registration before seeking urgent help: contact a local GP practice, explain that you are not registered and ask how they can assess the urgent problem.

   Do this: Call the GP practice and say clearly that the problem is urgent. Follow the triage instructions rather than travelling to the hospital on your own initiative unless you are told to do so.

   Documents needed

   • Your name and date of birth if immediately available
   • Your BSN and insurance details if known
   • Your medication and allergy information if relevant and immediately available

   Processing time

   Use this route while the GP practice is open and the problem cannot wait for normal care.

   Common mistake: If the situation becomes life-threatening, switch to 112 immediately.

   Official source

   Thuisarts · Urgent care through your GP
4. 4

   Use the huisartsen-spoedpost when your GP is closed

   If the problem is urgent, not life-threatening and cannot wait until your GP reopens, contact the huisartsen-spoedpost that covers your area. There is no single national huisartsenpost number. You can usually find the right service on your GP practice website, on the practice answering message, or by searching for 'huisartsen-spoedpost' plus your town or city. A triagist decides whether advice is enough, whether a GP should call or see you, whether a home visit is needed, or whether ambulance or hospital care is required.

   Do this: Contact the local huisartsen-spoedpost before travelling there. Explain what is happening and follow the triage instructions.

   Documents needed

   • Your name, date of birth and address if immediately available
   • Your BSN and insurance details if known
   • Medication information if relevant

   Processing time

   Use this route when your GP is closed and the urgent problem cannot wait for normal GP care.

   Common mistake: Do not search for one Netherlands-wide huisartsenpost phone number. Coverage is regional. If a life is in immediate danger, call 112 instead.

   Official source

   Thuisarts · Urgent out-of-hours GP care
5. 5

   Understand when the hospital SEH enters the route

   The spoedeisende hulp (SEH) is the hospital emergency department. For a non-life-threatening urgent problem, it is normally not a parallel first-choice service. When your GP is closed, Rijksoverheid says to contact the huisartsenpost before going to the SEH. The GP or huisartsen-spoedpost can send you to hospital emergency care when it is needed. In a life-threatening situation, call 112 instead of trying to choose an SEH yourself.

   Do this: Follow the GP, huisartsen-spoedpost or 112 instruction when hospital emergency care is needed.

   Processing time

   Hospital emergency care enters the route when triage or emergency services determine that hospital assessment is needed.

   Common mistake: GP and huisartsenpost care do not use the compulsory deductible, while hospital SEH care does. Do not let cost questions delay 112 in a life-threatening emergency.

   Official source

   Rijksoverheid · Huisartsenpost and hospital emergency department
6. 6

   Save your local urgent-care details before the next emergency

   Urgent care is easier to navigate when the local details are already saved. Keep your GP number and urgent option, identify the huisartsen-spoedpost that covers your address, and register with a GP if you have not done so. If hearing, speech or language makes a 112 phone call difficult, Government.nl describes the 112NL app and other accessible ways to contact the control room.

   Do this: Save the GP and huisartsen-spoedpost details in your phone and read the 112 accessibility options that are relevant to you before you need them.

   Register with a GP

   Processing time

   Do this when you are well; do not delay urgent care to complete it during an emergency.

   Common mistake: The 112NL app is an additional access route, not a substitute for calling 112 normally when you can do so in a life-threatening emergency.

   Official source

   Government.nl · Accessible ways to contact 112 and the 112NL app

• The patient's name, date of birth and current address, if they are immediately available
• The BSN and health-insurance details, if known
• A current list or photo of medicines and allergies, if available
• The GP practice name and phone number, if the patient is registered
• Any medical letter or information directly relevant to the urgent problem, if it is immediately available

• GP care and care at a huisartsenpost do not use the compulsory health-insurance deductible.
• Hospital emergency care at an SEH is hospital care and does use the compulsory deductible. Tests, medicines or other follow-up care can have separate cost consequences.
• Do not delay calling 112 in a life-threatening emergency because of insurance or cost questions.

Call 112 immediately when a life is in immediate danger or every second counts. For urgent problems that are not life-threatening, contact your GP while the practice is open or the local huisartsen-spoedpost when it is closed if the problem cannot wait for normal GP care. For non-life-threatening urgent care, do not treat the SEH as a parallel first-choice service: GP or huisartsen-spoedpost triage normally determines whether hospital emergency care is needed.

Requirements depend on your situation. Check the latest requirements with the relevant authority.

• Driving to an SEH as the default first step for a non-life-threatening urgent problem instead of contacting the GP or huisartsen-spoedpost for triage.
• Searching for one national huisartsenpost number. Out-of-hours GP coverage is regional, so use your GP practice website or answering message, or search for the huisartsen-spoedpost that covers your area.
• Waiting to register with a GP before asking for urgent help. If you are not registered, say so when you contact a local GP practice; out of hours, contact the local huisartsen-spoedpost.
• Using a general guide as a symptom checker. Use Thuisarts for symptom-specific when-to-call guidance or speak to the GP or huisartsen-spoedpost for clinical triage.
• Letting insurance or cost questions delay a 112 call when a life is in immediate danger.

• Save your GP's normal number, urgent option and opening information in your phone before you need them.
• Find the huisartsen-spoedpost that covers your address and save its official website or phone number. There is no single national huisartsenpost number.
• Register with a GP if you have not done so yet, so routine and urgent daytime care have a clear starting point.
• If language, hearing or speech makes a 112 call difficult, read the Government.nl guidance on the 112NL app and other accessible ways to contact the control room.
• Keep your medication list and basic medical information somewhere you can reach quickly.