[The department of geriatrics].

This contribution discusses a major report on the Geriatric Patient in General Hospitals in the Netherlands. Now for the first time the central advisory bodies in health and hospital care acknowledge the 'geriatric patient' in his own. The report describes the consequences for organization and training. In the comments the following points are made: inadequacy of the Dutch health-system with respect to the geriatric patient; necessity of speeding up training of geriatricians; in accordance to developing geriatrics as a discipline a change in the position of the nursing-home doctor and the necessary evaluation of implementation of geriatric departments in general hospitals.