Miranda is not her real name (her full name is known to the editors). She is ashamed and feels pressured by the contract of silence. She has been at odds with care provider People with Opportunities from Limburg for over a year. The contact with the healthcare provider became much too intimate, says Miranda. She wants to talk about it, so that lessons can be learned.
Hugging and comforting
After a while, the counselor who came to her home felt like a “father figure,” Miranda says. At the time, she suffered from psychological problems due to childhood traumas and was regularly comforted by the counselor, she says. “The counselor would sit on the couch with me and pull me against him. Sometimes I would sit against him for half an hour, his arms around me, then I would occasionally feel a kiss on my head.”
“He offered security and protection, I thought at the time.” But she now thinks very differently: “I was not myself at the time, this should never have happened”. As a caregiver, he should have kept more distance, says Miranda. “His behavior only made my psychological problems worse.” This care provider was also the director of the care institution at the time.
Why are non-disclosure contracts prohibited in healthcare?
According to the national government, a non-disclosure contract is an agreement containing agreements between a client and a healthcare provider that prohibit a client from discussing an incident with others. Since July 2023, a non-disclosure contract is no longer allowed in healthcare.
The fuss about previous silent contracts led to the government wanting a ban. In 2021, the then Minister of Health, Hugo de Jonge, said: “Especially in healthcare, it is important that lessons are learned from mistakes. Where people work, mistakes are made: that is not the point. It is a point if you trying to cover up those mistakes and trying to silence victims. We have to put an end to that.”
For more than two years, Miranda received help at home, which was intended to structure the day and make independent decisions. According to Miranda, little came of it. After the care was terminated last year, she filed a complaint.
The Healthcare Complaints Portal was brought in as a mediator. In reports that RTL Nieuws has seen, the director admits that he: ‘did not sufficiently observe the limits of professional assistance’.
The People with Opportunities Foundation writes: “He has become too emotionally involved, he seems to have ended up in a ‘rescuer role’. In addition – even though this was a wish of the client – he should not have offered structural comforting physical closeness.” Apologies have been made and according to the care institution, the man is no longer a care provider, only director. Miranda and the Foundation have not come to a solution.
Silent contract
To close the book, a ‘settlement agreement’ is now ready to be signed. Miranda asked, among other things, for compensation and was offered more than 5,000 euros by People with Opportunities. But then Miranda has to keep her mouth shut. It literally says: ‘abstain from submitting complaints in any form whatsoever and/or publishing and/or reporting to all authorities in the broadest sense of the word’.
“This has all the characteristics of a non-disclosure contract,” says André den Exter, senior lecturer in health law at Erasmus University. He reviewed the agreement at the request of the investigative editors. “I am surprised that a lawyer has contributed to this, because this type of contract has been prohibited since July 1, 2023,” says Den Exter. And that makes it null and void, he says. In other words: Miranda does not have to remain silent, even if she signs it.
Miranda doesn’t hesitate to sign. Even if it were invalid, the terror of the contract of silence is well within it. But says Miranda: “I want to warn others and I want to prevent this from being covered up. Openness is very important to improve care in the future.” Miranda is considering going to the Disputes Committee soon to have the complaint independently assessed.
Call
RTL Nieuws is curious who else has been offered a silent contract. In healthcare, or in another sector. Mail to [email protected]
A non-disclosure contract in the healthcare sector of 1 July 2023 or later is invalid, so you can report without hesitation. We will always treat your data confidentially.
The People with Opportunities Foundation says in a response: “The moment when the contract was drawn up and the date of legal abolition of the silence clause more or less crossed each other. The silence clause has been a standard article in settlement agreements for years. This has not been erroneously removed by our lawyer.”
People with Opportunities is a medium-sized care provider in South Limburg and offers, among other things, assisted living, day care and care at home.
The care organization writes about Miranda’s complaint: “We deeply regret that the client has experienced it this way. ‘A place and support that do you good’, that is what we as an organization want to realize for people. us, a daytime place or guidance at someone’s home. We are once again very sorry that this did not work out in this case for the client in question.” The Foundation indicates that it cannot comment on the substance of the matter due to privacy legislation.
2023-09-02 05:04:52
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