holiday dialysis IN THE netherlands

• Book through this website or contact us.
• Medical permission and medical data are required from your own hospital.
• Inform your health insurer and your practitioner in advance that you are going on holiday.
• We can also advise you in a place to stay in the area.

Traveling requires extra preparation if you undergo hemodialysis. This applies if you arrange a holiday yourself, but also if you join an organized trip. The preparations required depend on your personal situation.

Find out what's possible

Discuss with the doctor whether it is medically justified to go on holiday. Your medical situation must be stable. That is an important condition, otherwise a holiday will involve too many risks. Ask the doctor what you should pay attention to when looking for a suitable holiday destination. Think of:

• general hygiene in a country
• medical care in a country
• the necessary vaccinations: not all vaccinations are suitable for kidney patients.

Are you on the waiting list for a donor kidney?

You can be called up at any time if you are on the waiting list. It is then important that you can get to the hospital quickly. Ask the transplant center within how many hours you have to be present. Keep that in mind when planning your vacation.

Don't want to have to take this into account? Then your status on the waiting list can be temporarily changed: from transplantable to non-transplantable. You can have this adjusted again after the holiday.

Dialysis transfer

For your holiday dialysis treatment we ask you for the following medical information:

• an overview of all your medical data and information about your dialysis treatment
• a transfer form signed by the nephrologist or dialysis nurse
• statements stating that you do not have HIV or hepatitis B and C.

You can request this information from your own dialysis centre.

Make sure you have enough medicines on vacation

Make sure you have enough medicines with you when you travel. Order these in good time at the pharmacy. If you are traveling by plane, it is best to take the medicines with you in your hand luggage. This way you will not run out if you lose your luggage or arrive too late.

On return

When you return, you will hopefully look back on a successful holiday. At discharge we will give you a summary of the dialysis treatments. This paper tells you how the dialysis treatment went. Give the letter to your nephrologist at home.

Useful link: https://www.nieren.nl/bibliotheek/12-leven-met-chronische-nierschade/166-vakantie-en-reizen/229-op-vakantie-met-hemodialyse

For Dutch patients hemodialysis during holiday in the Netherlands is covered by the basic insurance. So you will receive compensation for this. In principle, transport from the holiday address to the holiday dialysis center is also reimbursed, but you must request this from the health insurer. This is possible with the sample letter from the website www.nieren.nl:

https://www.nieren.nl/bibliotheek/166-vakantie-en-reizen/227-vergoeding-van-hemodialyse-op-vakantie

Patients from outside the Netherlands: simply bring your international EHIC insurance card (available from your health insurer) with you. With the EHIC card, you do not have to pay in advance and your treatment will be fully reimbursed. Most health insurers do not require prior authorisation (except for possible reimbusement of travelling expenses).

If you don't have an EHIC insurance card, then we must ask you to pay the treatments in advance.