Waiting while you’re not well is hard. You have more rights than you’re often told; start with waiting-time mediation.
You are on a waiting list for mental health care (GGZ), and the waiting is hard.
What many people don’t know: you don’t have to wait quietly until it’s your turn. You have rights, and there are a few concrete things you can do right now to be helped sooner or to get through the meantime.
The most important is waiting-time mediation through your health insurer. It’s free, and your insurer is even obliged to help you. Below we list all the options.
Call your insurer’s care mediation department. They are obliged to help you find a place faster, and will actively look for a spot with a shorter wait. This costs you nothing.
Waiting times vary enormously by provider and region. You are not tied to the place where you are currently listed. Ask around, or let your insurer look into it for you.
The GP’s mental-health practice nurse (POH-GGZ) can support you in the meantime, so you are not left entirely without help while you wait.
These are nationally agreed maximum waiting times, for example four weeks to a first appointment and ten weeks until treatment starts. If they are exceeded, that is a strong argument towards your insurer.
If things turn acute, call your GP, or out of hours the GP post. They can call in the crisis service straight away. Waiting is not necessary then.
Your story matters on its own. Together with others it shows exactly where the system breaks down. Anonymous is fine.
