Huisartsenpraktijk Swijgman

I have never experienced such a poor and unprofessional services as this huisart. The receptionist there has a very bad attitude against foreigners. She draws her own assumptions about your complains. When I was very sick and I seeker to see a doctor, she simply says it’s just a flu and you don’t need to see the doctor. Then I received a phone call from the doctor that they tried to let the people who had flu not to come to the practice because they might affect other people. Is that a normal practice suppose to be? Also one time when my son had chickenpox, they first said he was not contagious anymore and he was good to go but after my son returns and I saw his scars were still open and I went to the hospital and they told me he was still contagious. So they were mistreating the patient! They are extremely unprofessional, the service is very poor, racist and not worth to go.

So let's lay down a few disclaimer before you read this review. First, I come from Canada, so I don't know how much of my poor experience at this doctor's office was due to cultural differences in medical practices, meaning how much you'll find those kind of practices everywhere else in the Netherlands and how much of it is actually unique to this place. Secondly, Ik spreek en begrijp Nederlands (wordt beter elke dag), maar wanner het is belangrijk liever ik Engels te gebruiken. So secondly, the language barrier, I felt the person I saw lacked confidence and came out as generaly incompetent but I don't know how much, if any, of that was due to the langage barrier because we were using English to communicate. But as a disclaimer for the disclaimer, the message on the answering machine at this doctor's office is both in English and Dutch, so it kind of sends a message that they're able to practice their craft in both languages. And now for the review, I went to this doctor because it was recommended by a general practician I know around Maastricht nd unfortunately the experience was a really bad one. First I didn't see doctor Swijgman, but somebody else who might or might not be a doctor from what I could deduce from her general demeanor and level of competence. She might've been an assistant or a student or any other kind of people you find working in a doctor's office in the Netherlands, I don't know. So what happened? She let me explain my symptoms and I mentioned all the details I thought were relevant but then she didn't ask me any question, she barely examined me, she brushed it off and looked like she wanted to get on with it when I complained about some stomach pain after she examined me. She didn't give any details on here thoughts about what it could be. She finished by saying she could prescribe me medicine for two weeks and that I could come back after that, all the while not explaining at all what she thought I had, if it was severe or not, or any other details that might've been useful. I had to ask a lot of question to get the smallest amount of info, which was basically that she thought I had nothing, but it was hard to get a definite answer from her and she prescribed me medication but imply I didn't really need it when I asked for precisions. I am overall very disappointed by this doctor. I think that if you advertise yourself as Doctor Swijgman's office and you call to book an appointment with doctor Swijgman, the least is that you get an appointment with doctor Swijgman. Then, I understand fully that we are in the Netherlands and that not everybody should and will talk English, and that is why I'm learning Dutch. But when as a business you have an English option on your answering machine, like I said, you're advertising yourself as bilingual and I expect that the professional I am going to see will have a strong enough level of both langages to practice their craft properly. For a doctor, that could mean asking relevant questions about the symptoms and your general health history, giving direction during physical examination, explaining their hypothesis on the potential sickness, giving advice, tips and a rational for the use of medication or behavior in order to get better. None of which I got at this place. For all these reasons I would unfortunately recommend avoiding this doctor. I felt like I would've been better served getting an appointment with "Doctor Google" and that's saying something since I'm very critical of the general level of information one can find on the web and since I have a lot respect for the craft and experience of real practician.

This GP practice does not help with your complaints. Prevention is something they do not apply in their practice and questions are not answered. If you want to be prescribed antibiotics for any of these you should go to this practice. I don't like that they do not help prevent disease or inflammation. You must already have the disease or the symptom (if it is too late) before you can be helped. Certainly an area for improvement.

Very nice doctor's practice, you are really listened to, thought along with you and made time for you!