General information

General information

Besnijdenis Centrum Nederland

Besnijdenis Centrum Nederland (BCN) is the first and largest circumcision clinic in the Netherlands, and has performed over 85.000 circumcisions on boys and adult males since 2001. BCN has 9 clinics spread over the country, where our experienced doctors perform circumcisions on young boys and adult males under local anesthesia.

Our goals and vision

The doctors of BCN perform circumcisions on boys and adult males with great care and with medical responsibility. We strive for optimal results and minimal complications. By giving good instructions, proper anesthesia, and sedation, the procedure should be as least uncomfortable as possible to the patient.

In case the foreskin of the penis is too narrow (phimosis), circumcision is necessary. We find that religious or cultural reasons are also good reasons to do circumcision. We advise against circumcisions performed under general anesthesia (in the hospital), because it is unnecessarily stressful for the boy, and too expensive for the parents.

Circumcision in boys in the Netherlands

Many ethnic groups in the Netherlands have a tradition of doing circumcisions on boys, and see it as a religious obligation. Muslims, Jewish people, and Christian migrants from North and West Africa opt to circumcise their son without exception. Globally, around 25 percent of all men are circumcised.

In the Netherlands, circumcisions are performed in circumcision clinics, independent healthcare clinics (‘ZBC’ in Dutch), primary care centers, and hospitals. BCN is the largest health care provider for circumcisions.

Some non-native parents choose to circumcise their son in their country of origin during the holidays. In some rare cases, non-medical specialists offer door-to-door service as a ‘circumcision doctor’. This is irresponsible and illegal, and we strongly disapprove of it.

Foundation of Besnijdenis Centrum Nederland in 2001

BCN was founded in March 2001 by GP’s Lex Klein and Erik Robberse in association with health insurance fund ZAO. The goal was to replace the ‘door-to-door circumcisions’, which were more common at that time. Since the beginning, BCN provides good quality and care for 25% of the costs of a circumcision performed in the hospital. In 2003, BCN took over the circumcision clinic of the GGD of Utrecht (founded by surgeon Roderick Schmitz and pediatrician Tom Schulpen in 1997), and started expanding all over the country. Today, BCN comprises nine clinics. Since health insurance companies stopped covering circumcisions performed in the hospital in 2005, BCN has experienced a significant growth in demand.

Our doctors and assistants

All doctors of BCN are either a GP, surgeon or surgeon in training, urologist or plastic surgeon, and have been specifically trained to perform circumcisions. They all have multiple years of surgical experience in the hospital and receive internal training to perform circumcisions under local anesthesia at BCN before they start working independently.

Every doctor is assisted by an assistant. They are either an operation assistant, doctor’s assistant, or a medical intern, and receive internal training to assist with circumcisions and to give aftercare instructions to the patient or parents/guardians.

Results of our circumcisions and patient satisfaction rates

A few weeks after the circumcision, we reach out to our patients to get informed on the healing process, and whether the end results and our service were satisfactory. If needed, we can make a check-up appointment. The results of these interviews are good: the number of complications (i.e. bleeding, infection) is very low, and the mean satisfaction rate is high (8.9/10).

Privacy policy

General information

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) law, or AVG in Dutch, protects personal data. This law imposes certain duties on organizations that gather personal data and provides certain rights for the people that share their data with these organizations. Apart from the GDPR, there are specific privacy policy regulations in health care, which are registered in the Medical Treatment Agreement Act (MTAA), or WGBO in Dutch. These regulations mean to inform patients on their rights and health care organizations on their duties, based on the laws of the GDPR and MTAA.

 Besnijdeniscentrum Nederland

Certain personal data may be asked in order to provide you with the best medical care and to handle the administrative and financial part of the procedure. We are obligated to correctly process our patients? personal data, according to the laws of the GDPR and MTAA.

Our duties

According to the GDPR, Besnijdenis Centrum Nederland is responsible for the processing of gathered personal data. We conform to the duties inherent to this law as follows:

  • Your personal data is gathered for specific purposes:
    • To provide good medical care;
    • To handle the administrative and financial part of the procedure.
  • In principle, no personal data is gathered for other purposes.
  • You are being informed that your personal data is processed, via the informed consent form and the information on our website.
  • All employees of Besnijdenis Centrum Nederland respect the confidentiality of your personal data.
  • Your personal data is well protected against unauthorized access.
  • Your personal data is not retained longer than necessary to provide good medical care.

For medical records, the legal retention period is 15 years (from the last treatment onwards). This is determined by the person that is medically responsible.

 Your rights

As our patient, you have the following rights:

  • The right to know what personal data is gathered of you;
  • The right to have access to your processed personal data, as long as that does not impair the privacy of others;
  • The right to correct, add or erase your personal data if needed;
  • The right to request (partial) deletion of your medical information. This request can only be approved if the retention of this medical information is not of significant importance to others, and if the medical information should not be retained according to the legal retention period;
  • The right to add a (medical) statement to your medical file;
  • In some cases, the right to object to the processing of your personal data. This objection can only be approved if this is not of significant importance to others, and if the personal data should not be gathered according to the GDPR or MTAA;
  • The GDPR provides you with the right to file a complaint against BCN to the Dutch Data Protection Authority (Dutch DPA), in case you disapprove of the way we process(ed) your personal data.

If you would like to make use of your rights, you may deliver a written statement to BCN. You may use a representative (i.e. authorized representative, guardian, mentor) to promote your interests.

Explanation on the request to receive a copy of your medical file

Please be aware that medical records, by law, should be retained for a maximum period of fifteen years. By giving us your personal information, you will help us with retrieving your medical file and protecting your privacy. This information will be handled with strict confidentiality. BCN is not responsible for mail delivery errors. Please inform us beforehand in case you prefer your medical file to be collected by you or your representative in person. It is not possible to receive the original document of your medical file.

According to the MTAA, a patient reaches legal maturity at the age of 16. Patients of 16 years old or older should file their request to receive a copy of their medical file themselves. In case the patient is deceased, the request to gain access to his/her medical file can only be approved if the deceased would presumably not have objected, and if there are critical reasons for the health care provider to break medical confidentiality. This decision lies with the board.

Sharing your personal data with third parties

All employees of BCN respect the confidentiality of your personal data; for example, health care providers need your explicit consent to share your personal data. There are a few exceptions to this principle. The health care provider may need to break medical confidentiality on account of a legal obligation, or if it would prevent serious harm to the patient or other persons. Also, personal data may need to be shared with third-party health care providers (e.g. with the pharmacist processing a prescription of one of our doctors).

Exchanging personal data

Besnijdenis Centrum Nederland does not inform the GP on the circumcision directly. After the procedure, you will receive a written report, which you may give to your GP. In this way, your GP is informed of the details of the performed circumcision.

Incidentally, patient records, operation records, and medication records may be shared with your pharmacy and (urgent) medical care providers. In this way, BCN participates in patient safety and medication safety.

Questions and complaints

Do you have a question or complaint about our privacy policy? For example, whom we share information with or how we handle medical records? Please notify us! Our complaints officer, dr. Azim Tahkim, will gladly converse with you on this matter.

Besnijdeniscentrum Nederland, Kerkgaarde 1, 1391 MB Abcoude

Email: info@besnijdeniscentrum.nl