Dear non-Dutch speaking patient of Practice Het Baken

Five to ten percent of the patients we treat at our practice are foreign and who’s native language is one other than Dutch. There is a real diversity in origin and in order to improve our communication we thought it would be helpful to explain in English how our practice operates. This, we hope, will clarify the process of making an appointment with the doctor and contribute to a smooth and pleasant experience with us.

We would like you to feel welcome and at home.

Our staff

The practice consists of two female general practitioners, Dr. Sturm-Bos and Dr. Van Jarwaarde. Dr. Sturm-Bos works on Tuesday, Thursdays and Friday. Dr. Van Jarwaarde on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. The practice is open from 8am till 5pm.

The doctors are supported by two nurses. In Dutch we call them ‘praktijkondersteuners’, meaning practice supporters. They are  specialised in diabetes and cardiovascular risk management.  The other nurse is specialised in elderly care and COPD. We also have a nurse who is specialised in mental issues

Two doctor’s assistants complete the team.

Making an appointment

Some of you are probably already familiar with this process and for some it will hopefully bring some clarity.

Firstly, it is necessary to be registered as a patient at the practice. Then, when you experience a health complaint you can call us and one of our doctor’s assistants will help you by using a method called ’triage’. This means she will try to collect useful information about your health complaint by asking questions and importantly, she will decide how urgent your situation is. Depending on the seriousness of your situation an appointment will be made. Wherever possible we will give you an appointment as soon as is possible, sometimes earlier than triage wise is necessary. This is of course not always possible due to how busy the practice sometimes is.

Certain health issues do not require a face-to-face consult with the doctor. In such cases the assistant will consult on your behalf with the doctor and, where necessary, a prescription can be written for you.

Digital appointments

Please note, via MijnGezondheid.net  it is possible  allowing you to request e-consultations, repeat prescriptions and face to face appointments. You can also access your personal medical dossier in this way. For this you need a DigiD account.

Our email is not intended for consultations about health problems. In case of any health issues, we kindly request you to phone us or ask for an e-consultation once you have an account via MijnGezondheid.net. If you suspect that your health problems might need urgent help it is best to phone us.

Information can also be found on thuisarts.nl of which the English version is called GPinfo.nl. However, the English site is still under construction and so may not include the information you are looking for. Again, you are always welcome to call us with any queries you may have.

Prescriptions

Repeat prescriptions can be requested via our prescription phoneline. Number: 070-3555000 press option 2 or via an account via our website.

Other tasks of the doctor’s assistant

The doctor’s assistant does more than advise and triage the patients. She can also perform the following tasks and procedures:

• Repeat prescriptions
• Ear syringing
• Measuring blood pressure
• Bandaging wounds and removing stitches
• Taking an ECG
• Sleep apnea testing
• 24-hour blood pressure measurement
• Pregnancy test
• Urine test
• Blood sugar and Hb-control
• Taking a Pap smear

We hope that the above information has clarified more about how our practice operates and will contribute to a pleasant experience with us.

If you have any recommendations or comments after reading this you are more than welcome to share them with us.

Kind regards, Team Het Baken