BIG registration check

BIG stands for Professions in Individual Health Care. Only  care providers who are included in this register are allowed to work under a protected professional title and perform the associated actions independently. Protected professional titles include a doctor, pharmacist, physiotherapist, health psychologist, psychotherapist, dentist, obstetrician, and nurse. The BIG register provides clarity about the competence of the care providers who use this professional title.

To check a BIG registration, a (potential) employee is asked to enter his or her BIG number in their personal online account. DISA then digitally checks whether this number appears in the BIG register., It will also be checked if  the number has not expired. As an extra check, DISA can request and provide proof of registration in the BIG register.

In addition to the BIG check, DISA can also check specialist registers, which include care providers from different professional groups. The specialist registers are covered by the Specialist Registration Committees (SRCs). Examples of these professional associations are:

• Doctors: Registration Committee for Medical Specialists (RGS)
• Pharmacists: Specialist Registration Commission (SRC)
• Health psychologists: Registration and Supervision Committee (CRT)
• Dentists: Registration Committee Dental Specialisms (RTS)
• Nurses: Registration Committee for Nursing Specialisms (RSV)

If a (potential) employee has had measures imposed by a disciplinary committee or by the Health and Youth Care Inspectorate (IGJ) while performing a job, this will be disclosed in the BIG registration check.

Depending on the cause, different measures can be imposed, each with different consequences:

• A profession-restricting order or order to immediately abstain from professional activities are the most severe measures, they restrict the care provider in the practice of the profession.
• In addition, there are less severe measures such as a reprimand, fine, or suspension.
• A denial of the right to be re-registered and a cancellation both relate to registration in the BIG register.

The most severe measures are always made public. In the case of less severe measures, a disciplinary judge decides whether the privacy interest of the care provider should give way to the general interest of the public.

The BIG register shares information about professional restrictive measures imposed in the Netherlands with other EU countries and vice versa.