Dutch healthcare system often less well understood by people with a migration background

The Dutch healthcare system is usually assessed as “very good”. Even so, research has shown that not everyone is reaping its benefits. For instance, people with a migration background have indicated that they struggle to find their way in the Dutch healthcare system. For their policy brief Barriers to the Dutch Healthcare System, Utrecht University researchers Verena Seibel and Jelena Arsenijevic investigated the difficulties that people with a migration background encounter when using the system. Seibel: "If we want to ensure that everyone has equal access to healthcare services, it makes sense to view these services from the perspective of people with a migration background as well." 

Seibel and Arsenijevic surveyed people with a migration background as well as with a Dutch background. "Within the group with a migration background, we distinguished between the first and the second generation. The first generation includes those born outside of the Netherlands, the second includes those born in the Netherlands of whom at least one parent was born outside of the country."

More than 20% of migrants used healthcare services outside of the Netherlands in the past five years.

Healthcare services outside of the Netherlands

Their survey revealed that no more than 52% of those from the first generation and 47% of those from the second generation of people with a migration background are satisfied or entirely satisfied with the Dutch healthcare system. Among other things, they perceived that they were not being treated equally. For comparison, 70% of people with a Dutch background are entirely satisfied with the system. “As a consequence, more than 20% of migrants used healthcare services outside of the Netherlands in the past five years.”

Another difference concerns their participation rates in preventive screening programmes, such as the one for breast cancer.

Ten minutes per patient

A contributory factor to the poor confidence in the Dutch healthcare system is the lack of knowledge about its operation. “Only 54% of people with a migration background know that a GP only spends ten minutes with each patient. This figure is 71% for those with a Dutch background.” Another difference between people with a Dutch and a migration background concerns their participation rates in preventive screening programmes, such as the one for breast cancer: “The participation rate among women aged 50 and over with a Dutch background is more than 80%. This drops to 64% among the first generation of migrants and only 43% among the second generation.”

What to do?

In their policy brief, the researchers make a number of recommendations. These range from “provide information about the Dutch healthcare system in the migrants’ native language” to “make sure that healthcare providers have additional time to spend on patients who struggle with linguistic or cultural barriers.” Arsenijevic: “This will increase the chance that everyone can benefit from the Dutch healthcare system.”