English – Huisartsenpraktijk Soeters – Groningen

Welkom bij Huisartsenpraktijk Soeters

Eerste coronaprikken najaarsronde 2023 vanaf 2 oktober gezet

Vanaf 2 oktober 2023 kunnen mensen die een hoger risico lopen om ernstig ziek te worden door corona, waaronder 60-plussers en zwangeren, weer een coronaprik halen. Dit geldt ook voor zorgmedewerkers met direct patiënt en/of cliëntcontact. De coronaprik wordt gegeven door de GGD met het meest actueel beschikbare vaccin. Dit zogeheten XBB-vaccin kent de best beschikbare bescherming tegen de huidige varianten van het coronavirus.

Mensen van 60 jaar en ouder ontvangen vanaf 19 september een uitnodigingsbrief voor de coronaprik van het RIVM. Mensen van 18 jaar tot en met 59 jaar die jaarlijks worden uitgenodigd voor de griepprik, zorgmedewerkers en zwangeren krijgen geen uitnodigingsbrief. Zij kunnen vanaf half oktober zelf een afspraak maken bij de GGD via planjeprik.nl of 0800 7070. Dat geldt ook voor mensen buiten deze groepen die toch gevaccineerd willen worden, vanwege bijvoorbeeld een kwetsbaar gezinslid of op advies van een behandelend arts.

Het is tot eind december 2023 mogelijk om de coronaprik te halen. Voor zwangeren en mensen met een hoog medisch risico die door een arts worden doorverwezen blijft de coronaprik ook daarna beschikbaar.

Coronaprik brengt bescherming weer op peil

Het coronavirus is er nog steeds en kan opleven. Daarom is de coronaprik belangrijk voor mensen die een hoger risico lopen om ernstig ziek te worden door het virus. De coronaprik brengt hun bescherming tegen ziekenhuisopname weer op peil en verkleint de kans op ernstig ziek worden en/of overlijden door corona.

Het is niet nodig dat iedereen in Nederland een coronaprik krijgt. Onder de bevolking is een brede bescherming tegen corona opgebouwd. Dit komt door vaccinatie, een doorgemaakte coronabesmetting of een combinatie van beide. Ook is de omikronvariant van het coronavirus minder ziekmakend. Het blijft voor iedereen wel belangrijk om de adviezen ter voorkoming van luchtweginfecties te volgen. Voor de bescherming van mensen met een kwetsbare gezondheid en voor henzelf.

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 : +31 900-9229Doktersdienst 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

We are not very enthousiastic about E-consults. We have the experience that we often need more than one mail back and forth, which is not very efficient. Furthermore we find it difficult to assess the complexity of the problem presented. We also find it hard to appreciate the possibility of underlying questions or worries. In our experience this goes much better and more quickly by telephone. For relatively simple questions you can eventually mail to: assistente@soeters.gerritzorgnet.nl

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.

HOSPITALS

There are two hospitals in the city of Groningen. The UMCG , University Medical Centre Groningen is a big university hospital. It is located near the city centre , 1,5 km South-East of our practice. As it is a teaching hospital , you will encounter many junior doctors. It is the best place to go to if you have complicated or rare medical problems. As the UMCG is a highly specialised university hospital , the tendency is that more and more  “minor” or “normal” medical problems are referred to and  dealt with in the hospital of Winschoten, about 40-45 km East of Groningen. UMCGHanzeplein 1 9700RB Groningen T:+3150-3616161 www.umcg.nl
The Martini Hospital is situated in the South-West of the city  5,5 km from our practice. It is a modern and well-equipped hospital, with a good reputation. It has one of the three specialised Burn Centres in the Netherlands,  and has good functioning departments in almost all the medical specialties ( in case of cancer radiotherapy you are referred to the UMCG with which there is a good co-operation). Martini Hospital Van Swietenlaan 4 9728 NZ Groningen T: +3150-5245245 www.martiniziekenhuis.nl