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Comment by CalRobert | Hacker News Reader

My family and I are Irish citizens and while the Netherlands has been good to us, it is surprising to me that when we go to the hospital you have to check in with a specifically Dutch ID. In the name of the person with the appointment. That seems OK since I have a Dutch driver's licence, but my 4 year old daughter does not, and they seemed to have no idea what to do with her. Usually we figure it out but there's not even a check in desk so I end up bumbling around asking random staff members.

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Wow. I’ve never had to show ID at Dutch hospitals or clinics. My GP does the referral (!!! great GP!!!) or I turn up at A&E and the (medical) intake has begun. I speak Dutch though, maybe that makes a difference?

Edit:spelling and clarification on intake

In many (?) hospitals, you need to take your ticket somehow when you enter. You can sometimes do this with the letter or email you got, but you can also scan a (Dutch) ID. See 'aanmeldzuil': https://www.zuyderland.nl/ziekenhuis/afspraken/aanmelden/

tergooi MC in Hilversum has no one to talk to when you walk in, really. You get a ticket with your Dutch id, wait where it tells you, and someone calls your name. It's really efficient if you have Dutch id!

At least when I was there last year, if you head left from the entrance there's a couple booths there. Usually at least one is staffed.

Also if I remember at Tergooi MC you needed to register in their system anyways before an appointment. In the past they issued a little plastic card at the very same booth.

Thanks! I called them last week and they told me I couldn't do anything without a specifically Dutch ID. ISTR seeing booths with no staff in the past, I will look again next time.

It could be they were referring to DigiD for logging into their online portal. I recall needing to use it to schedule an appointment with a specialist.

Inside the hospital itself you should be fine with an EU ID card or a passport, I don't think they specifically need a Dutch ID.

It's mandatory if you've never been to the hospital/clinic before, it's for insurance purposes. See https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/identificatieplicht...

Yeah, I know what you mean. Also, even though my partner has a Dutch tax ID, we still can't file together ourselves, on account of her not having a Dutch ID, and therefore not being able to setup DigiD 'correctly'. We can have a tax consultant do it for us however!

Highly optimized for the happy path, which of course does cover 99% of cases, but you better not be in the 1% :) That's what I liked about France: nobody expects you to be normal, so everybody is used to working around systems. For the Dutch (and Germans), systems are sacred, and if they don't work, it must be you!

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