English
GENERAL PRACTICE SOETERS
Nieuwe Boteringestraat 1-1a
9712PD GRONINGEN
T: +3150-312 34 12
F: +3150 – 318 73 79
E: assistente@soeters.gerritzorgnet.nl
EMERGENCIES
- Call: 112 –“ if every second counts ” (life-threatening emergency)
- Not life-threatening emergency during surgery hours : 08:00 -17:00 Call : +3150-312 34 12 ( choice 1)
- Out of hours GP services: Call : +31 900-9229: Doktersdienst Groningen, Van Swietenlaan 2b, 9728 NZ Groningen First make an appointment by telephone!
SURGERY HOURS
Monday to Friday
- 08:00- 12:30 and 13:30-17:00
In case of emergency
- 12:30-13:30: call: +3150-312 34 12 (choice 1)
- During our holidays the surgery of our colleague Dr Boersma, in the same building, is available. You can call the surgery of Dr. Boersma at tel: +3150-312 54 32
THE GP
- Consultations are scheduled daily from 09:00 till 10:30 and from 14:00 till 17:00, except on Tuesday afternoons.
- For a normal consultation 10 minutes is scheduled, this being the average time needed to handle one medical problem.
- Sometimes you will want to discuss more than one issue or a more complex or a more emotional problem. If so, make an appointment for a double consultation ( 20 minutes). The practice assistant will ask you for your reason in order to estimate, together with you, the time needed. Sometimes you will not want to discuss the nature of your health complaint with the practice assistant. That’s no problem, as long as you will give her an estimation of the time (10 or 20 minutes) needed.
- If you want to cancel your appointment, please inform us as soon as possible ! An appointment that was not cancelled may be charged.
HOME VISIT
- If you are not able to come to the practice you can ask for a house call. This can only be done by telephone.
- Call, preferably between 08:00 – 09:00 during the GP’s telephone consultation hour. T: +3150-312 34 12. If this is not possible, then you can call the practice assistant before 10:45 T: +3150-312 34 12 (choice 3).
- The GP will normally visit you between 12:00 and 14:00. In case of an overloaded program it may happen that it’s not possible to visit you before 14:00. Then the GP will visit you after 17:00. Normally you will be informed of the change in visitation time by the practice assistant, but in case of an alarming deterioration in your situation you should call the practice yourself.
TELEPHONE CONSULTATION & TEST RESULTS
Normally we do not contact you about test results or about the results of the investigations performed by the medical specialist. You can call the GP in person between 08:00-09:00. Then you can also ask for information or advice about health complaints. THE PRACTICE ASSISTANT
- The practice assistants have their own consulting hours: measurement of blood pressure or blood glucose level, ear syringing, administration of injections, wart treatment with liquid nitrogen, removing sutures. They also make Pap-smears (Pap-smear screening for cervical cancer).
CYSTITIS?
- In case of symptoms of a possible cystitis, collect a midstream sample of the first early morning micturition. Preferably use a vial from the pharmacy or from us. If not available, use a jam jar, cleaned with warm water without detergent and then dried. Don’t forget to clean the lid in the same way! Keep the urine in the refrigerator until you bring it to the practice, preferably as early as possible after 08:00. Please call the practice assistant from 11:30-12:30 about the result.
NURSE SPECIALIST MENTAL HEALTH
- Alice Beuker is our nurse specialist mental health (in Dutch: POH-GGz) and is working in our practice every Wednesday. She is a trained psychiatric nurse specialist. Alice has an extensive experience in the field of depression and anxiety and has lots of expertise in working with (groups of) adults with all kinds of psychological and psychiatric problems.
- After a first consultation with the GP, you can make an appointment with her for minor or mild psychiatric problems. Sometimes she will see you herself for a longer period of time. In other cases, together with you, she will investigate the nature of your problems and make a plan to tackle these, which may include a referral to another specialist.
- The costs of an appointment with Alice are 100% included in your Dutch basic insurance and will cost you no extra fee.
MAKE AN APPOINTMENT
- You can book a GP-appointment on-line 24/7. Register your account once, and from that moment on, you can easily log in on the patient portal with your own account on: huisartssoeters.uwartsonline.nl.
- All other appointments can only be made by telephone. Call –if possible- from 9:00 – 10:30 or from 11:15 – 12:30 T: 050-312 34 12 (choice 3) Please call us before 12:30. Only call us in the afternoon if you think dealing with your health complaint cannot wait until 08:00 the next morning.
- Background information: We receive a lot of phone calls and therefore the phone line can be busy. You can help our practice assistant by keeping the call short. Please keep your agenda at hand! In the afternoon the practice assistant has her own consultation hour. During the rest of the afternoon a lot of administration has to be done.
JOIN OUR PRACTICE
You are welcome to join our practice if you live in the following postal code areas in Groningen: 9712 , 9714/15/16/17/ 18 or 9741/42
Online registration
- Please fill in and return the online registry form.
Introductory appointment before registration
- If you want to make an appointment before making the decision to join our practice, you can call the practice assistant T: +3150-312 34 12 (choice 4)
- After the appointment you can decide whether to register or not.
E-CONSULT
REPEAT PRESCRIPTIONS
- A repeat prescription is a prescription for medication which you are using regularly.
- If you want to discuss the use of a new type of medication, please call the doctor between 08:00-09:00 (telephone consultation), or eventually the assistant after 09:00.
- Repeat prescription Online: you can log in 24/7 with your own account on: huisartssoeters.uwartsonline.nl
- Repeat prescriptions answering machine: 24/7 T: 050-312 34 12 (choice 2): it is important to mention your last name, date of birth, telephone number and pharmacy. After that please mention the name of your medication, the dosage (milligrams) and how often you use this.
- Every day around 10:30 the requests are send electronically to the pharmacies. Since it takes two working days for the pharmacy to prepare your medication , it is wise to make the request at least a couple of days before you run out of it. This all means that you don’t have to come to the practice, but you can go directly to the pharmacy, preferably between 15:00 and 17:30.
If you prefer calling the assistant about repeat prescriptions or with a question about medication, call between 09:00 en 10:30 T:050-312 34 12 (choice 3)
SHOULD I SEE MY GP
- Thuisarts.nl
provides reliable and independent information from your general practitioner regarding health and disease. There is also a different option: - Moet ik naar de dokter?
This is a medical app, which answers the question for you if and when you have to see your GP. Approved by the Nederlands Huisartsen Genootschap (NHG).
THE DUTCH HEALTH CARE SYSTEM
- A very brief introduction: In the Netherlands, if you want to see a doctor you need to see your General Practitioner (GP) first. Normally it is not possible to go directly to a hospital doctor. Only in case of a major accident or a highly alarming emergency you can go directly to a hospital emergency department. In Dutch the GP is called: huisarts (literally home doctor). Together with you, the GP will be able to handle your medical problem in more than 90 % of the cases. Sometimes the GP will directly order blood tests or ultrasound or x-ray investigations. If necessary, the GP will refer you to a medical specialist in the hospital by sending a referral letter electronically. You will receive an email to confirm this. Usually some days later, you will receive a letter from the hospital with an appointment. Eventually you can alter the appointment by telephone, and sometimes you are asked by email to make an appointment yourself by telephone. Usually the waiting times for a first appointment are between a couple of days to six weeks, but if necessary the GP will make an appointment for the same day. You can make an appointment with a midwife or a physiotherapist without a referral letter from the GP. In the case of a consultation with a psychologist, most Dutch health care insurance companies require a GP-referral letter for reimbursement of the costs. If you have a foreign insurance, payment is normally expected immediately after the consultation, by cash only. You will receive a bill for reimbursement with your insurance company. If you have a Dutch health insurance all appointments with the GP are directly paid for by the insurance company. However, every year the first 385 euro’s for prescriptions, laboratory- or other investigations or referral to a hospital doctor, will be at your own expense. The insurance company will pay this first, but will send you a bill for these costs.
- Furthermore, not all Dutch insurance companies have contracts with all hospitals for every form of treatment. As we as GP’s cannot check which insurance companies have contracts with which hospitals it is your own responsibility to check if your hospital costs for this specific problem will be reimbursed. Finally, during registration you will be asked which pharmacy you want to deal with.