Dutch patients get too much care — GPs

Patients in the Netherlands receive too much care in general hospitals, primary care, GP cooperatives as well as in private clinics, Dutch GPs believe. In the 2012 International Health Policy Survey by the Commonwealth Fund, 57 per cent of Dutch GPs indicated that their patients received too much healthcare — an unexpected finding, given the clear gatekeeper role of Dutch GPs and recent efforts to strengthen this role. New research published in the journal Family Practice has now put this figure even higher, finding that 81.4 per cent of GPs believe that patients receive (much) too much care in the…