Registering with a huisarts

Register with a huisarts (GP) in your first weeks, not on the day you actually get sick. Registration itself can take time and many practices are closed to new patients, so starting early is what makes the system work for you later.

What registering actually needs

You search for a practice by postcode, or ask your host family which one they use, since living in a household with an existing patient often makes registering at that same practice easier. You generally need to live within the practice's service area, because the huisarts has to be able to reach you for a home visit if needed. To register you usually need proof of identity, your BSN and your Dutch health insurance details. If your BSN has not arrived yet, call the practice and ask whether you can register provisionally and hand in the number once it arrives, rather than waiting to start the process at all.

When a practice says no

Being turned away is common in some areas and is not personal: many Dutch GP practices are closed to new patients at any given time, and this differs by neighbourhood and by season. If you cannot find a practice near you, call your health insurer. Insurers have a legal duty to help you find a GP (zorgbemiddeling), and this route is faster than most newcomers realise. It is also worth registering with a nearby pharmacy (apotheek) once you have a practice, so prescriptions go to the right place automatically.

Which practice, which insurer and who pays

Which practice your host family uses, which insurer covers you, and who pays the premium are household facts this guide cannot answer for you. Ask your host family directly and write the answers down somewhere you will find them again, such as Opairly's emergency information.

The out-of-hours number that is not a doctor

Outside your GP's office hours, evenings, nights, weekends and public holidays, you call the huisartsenpost for your region rather than your own practice. There is no single national number for it: every region has its own, and your host family should give you theirs before you need it.

One warning worth repeating in writing, not only saying out loud once: 0900 8844 (checked 2026-08-18) is the police, not a doctor. It is easy to find this number searching for help at night and assume it leads to medical care. For a life-threatening situation, call 112 (checked 2026-08-18) directly instead of trying to find your GP or the huisartsenpost first.