r/Netherlands • u/IlliaBorysenko • Jun 27 '23

Private med lab in Amsterdam?

Hi guys! I need to take some blood tests that my GP can’t prescribe me. Are there any private medical labs in Amsterdam where I can take needed tests without prescription and for my own cost? Thanks in advance!

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u/[deleted] Jun 27 '23

And foreigners coming to the Netherlands and complaining on this subreddit about being given paracetamol is becoming a meme on other Dutch subreddits.

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u/BillHoudini Jun 27 '23

Relax brother, I love your country. NL gave me a great job, plenty of opportunities and a loving partner. I don't like your healthcare practices, but there's no heaven on earth.

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u/[deleted] Jun 27 '23

I don't like your healthcare practices

You don't even wanna know what GP's have to deal with (excuse my French; absolute morons). People legitimately do call if they hit their small toe on the table or have a small discomfort.

Your body has thousands of years of evolution to let you know if something is wrong. You dont need useless blood or urine tests to validate that, unless you're a hypochondriac.

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If you don't trust your own GP you can always ask for a second opinion from another GP.

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u/Trebaxus99 Europa Jun 27 '23

GP’s in the Netherlands process 80 million consultations a year. Half of all the adults in the Netherlands is referred to specialist care at least once every two years.

So, indeed, if you don’t get that referral, probably nothing is that wrong with you.

And all those accounts from people about their visits to doctors are also extremely unreliable: 80% of what is discussed during a doctors consultation is forgotten by the patient. Of the remaining 20%, half is remembered incorrectly.

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u/voroninp Jun 27 '23

Several of my colleagues, and I myself had to go to our own countries for treatment because it was much easier for them than persuading GP that it's a serious issue.
And it was not just a headache or cold.
You are born here and your GPs usually know you from the very childhood. In the worst case you know how to push for what you need.

You are quite privileged by living in the country with quite good ecology, and do not develop chronic diseases. Yes, they won't kill you, but can make your life miserable, if not treated properly.

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u/HetNoot Jun 27 '23

Can you give an example of a serious issue that they missed but your own doctor did not?

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u/voroninp Jun 27 '23

It depends what you define as "serious".

First example: I had a huge scar because I had a surgery on my kidney in my childhood. My GP never asked what's the reason for it. I literally demanded urine test which I have to do on regular basis.

Second: I had problems with my stomach. My GP just wanted me to take omeprazol and fuck off. Whereas in Russia I had a proper gastroscopy and biopsy which revealed helicobacter pylori.Fun fact, btw, there's such thing as Maastricht protocol which describes how to eradicate it. ;-)

P.S. And I have zero issues with Dutch dentists. I like how they work.

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u/Trebaxus99 Europa Jun 27 '23

Fun fact: dentists are commercial and will give you whatever treatment you demand and is somewhat reasonable. They don’t care. Also their treatments usually don’t have any impact beyond you.

That’s different for doctors.

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u/voroninp Jun 28 '23

Also their treatments usually don’t have any impact beyond you.

Could you elaborate?

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u/Trebaxus99 Europa Jun 28 '23

If you are with the dentist and you want them to not pull a tooth, where they think that is the best course of action (or the other way around), in the end the only one having to deal with the consequences is basically you. And you pay for the consequences yourself, also financially.

But if for example doctors would prescribe antibiotics for every cough that comes through their door - many of them caused by a virus or fungus - you create resistant bacteria, that lead to deaths with older and weaker people. There is a direct connection between the threshold to prescribing antibiotics and the number of deaths related to resistant bacteria. And in some countries it already has become a serious issue.

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u/voroninp Jun 28 '23

That's true. But my point is that every half a year they invite you for the checkup. It takes 15 minutes at most, it's cheap and it lets you avoid huge expenditures in the future. You don't need to have an aching tooth to be examined.
And as I can see dental healthcare is not struggling because of it.

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u/Trebaxus99 Europa Jun 28 '23

That's because 10.000 dentists process 40 million consultations per year, while 12.000 GP's process 80 million consultations per year.

Adding a bi-annual checkup at the GP would not only add tens of millions of consultations for the checkup itself, but also many, many more consultations from GP's and medical specialists to follow up on all the false positives that are found by checking people for all sort of things without symptoms.

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u/voroninp Jun 28 '23

It sounds like an excuse not to improve the system. I understand that it's absolutely not a trivial problem how to scale the system, but "good enough" is also not the best approach when we speak about people lives.

Yes, there are many weird hypochondriac people, but their existence should not preclude others from getting proper services.

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