Dutch residents wait up to 2 years for mental health care
By Simone Jacobs
There are around 100.000 people waiting to get mental health treatment in the Netherlands. Half of mental health patients have waited longer than 14 weeks to get treatment, with some waiting for up to two years.
Growing waiting lists for mental health care in the Netherlands
A new dashboard called the Insight into Healthcare Providers is now being used to replace annual reports by the Dutch Healthcare Authority (NZa). Based on an analysis of this dashboard by MIND and Radar, the number of people waiting for mental health care in the Netherlands and the length of their wait are increasing.
Figures from 2025 show that more than 100.000 people are on the mental health care waiting list. The average waiting time before a person receives mental health treatment is 24 weeks - three weeks longer than in 2024 and significantly over the maximum limit of 14 weeks.
Some patients have even been on a waiting list for two years. Those who need specialised mental health care, for personality disorders, for example, seem to wait the longest, with an average wait time of 32 weeks.
Set up your health insurance in the Netherlands
Intake for Dutch mental health care exceeds time limit
It’s not just waiting times for treatment that run long. Just getting an intake appointment with a mental health professional takes an average of 14 weeks when it is not supposed to take longer than four weeks. “During this period, people don't know where they stand or whether they're on the waiting list for the right treatment. Symptoms often worsen during the wait,” write the organisations.
The Netherlands has a serious worker shortage, which significantly affects the healthcare sector, for example, up to 194.000 residents do not have a GP due to a lack of staff. In 2023, the sector was short of 44.000 employees, and it is expected to worsen in the coming years. This is likely having an impact on mental health care as well.
In response to reports of these growing waiting times, NZa emphasised that the onus does not fall on the Dutch healthcare system alone. “We expect healthcare providers and health insurers to make agreements on improving access to mental health care, both nationally and regionally. Collaboration with the social services sector and municipalities is crucial for this: not all requests for help belong within mental health care,” wrote NZa.
MIND director Dienke Bos is calling on the new government to intervene and improve access by removing crucial mental health care from the free market.
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Editor for the Netherlands at IamExpat Media. Simone studied Genetics and Zoology at the University of Pretoria in South Africa before moving to the Netherlands, where she has been working as a writer and editor since 2022. One thing she loves more than creating content is consuming it, mainly by reading books by the dozen. Other than being a book dragon, she is also a nature lover and enjoys hiking and animal training.Read more