Research shows that Dutch patients are increasingly willing to travel further from home to receive care from the best specialist for their needs. This shift reflects a growing awareness that the quality of care and the expertise of the surgeon matter far more than proximity. At Blooming, we regularly welcome patients from across the Netherlands and beyond. In this article, we explore what drives patients to seek specialist care away from their local area, and what we do to ensure every patient feels at home and well supported, regardless of how far they have travelled.
For correct and appropriate hospital care, patients are willing to travel a considerable distance. This was concluded by the NVZ (Dutch Hospital Association) in its 2011 sector report on patient travel willingness.
This report found that approximately half of patients are willing to travel up to an hour longer to reach a hospital that delivers better quality and has a better reputation. The larger and more significant the procedure, the further patients are willing to travel. At present, it takes patients an average of 13 minutes to reach the nearest hospital. The extent to which patients are willing to travel further to a different hospital is a key factor in the discussion about the concentration and distribution of medical specialisms in our country. Today, hospitals make agreements about who does what, in order to make healthcare as affordable and as high-quality as possible. Not every hospital needs to offer everything to its patients.
Patients may have various reasons for travelling further to a different hospital. Examples include:
- Unique healthcare provision in the region or even nationally. Patients choose the hospital with the best technology for the best possible treatment, even if that hospital is some distance away. Examples include endoscopic microsurgery (keyhole surgery) or robotic surgery for prostate cancer. Another example is the treatment of spinal hernias using laser technology, which is only performed at Het Kennemer Gasthuis in Haarlem. By using a laser, the pressure in the intervertebral disc is reduced, which should cause the protrusion to decrease and alleviate the pain. Many patients travel to Haarlem for this.
- The hospital's reputation. Patients prefer to be treated in a hospital that is widely talked about, has a well-known and highly regarded doctor, or has been named one of the best.
- Specialist treatments. Patients come from far and wide to certain hospitals because they offer the best quality for specialist and complex procedures.
- Care profile. When multiple specialisms work well together within a hospital, it is beneficial for patients to be treated there, as this means they do not need to travel between hospitals during their treatment.
- Hospital focus. There are hospitals in the Netherlands that focus specifically on one speciality, such as the Eye Hospital in Rotterdam and the Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital for cancer in Amsterdam.