On Monday morning, patients line up in front of the clinic gate in Bimedden. Fons Fontijn is one of them. He slipped in the shower this morning in agony. “When I called the GP, there were 32 people waiting for me. I thought I’d check her out, because that’s not right.”

On the fence hangs a note with the message that this practice has been discontinued. Patients receive a voicemail via the phone number attached to it. And if they contact someone on the phone, they will be referred to a general practitioner in Amsterdam, who can do nothing. “We can’t go anywhere if something goes wrong with us. They should be ashamed,” says Vance.

After Reusel’s GP retired two years ago, Co-Med has taken over the practice. Another GP started working, but now it also stops due to special circumstances. No new one has been found, and so, according to Co-Med, there is no other option but to close the practice.

“Shameful,” says a distraught woman in front of the fence. She needs liquid pills for her 93-year-old neighbour. “It’s a matter of life and death. My neighbor now needs this medicine.” Like many others, the woman has already contacted a new GP. But she can’t do anything for her without a file. “I have already called this number, but they cannot be reached.”

That is why there is nothing else for her and also for Fence to do but wait. “I think I’ll drive to the hospital. Should they fix it there? And if they say it’s not possible, they just call my health insurance company,” says Vance. He walks back to his car with tears in his eyes.

Also read: The controversial GP practice was promptly shut down, and patients were outraged