Normal care under pressure due to corona | Inland

Follow the messages from our parliamentary reporters on Wednesday at the bottom of this message.

The oppression is problematic, says Kuipers: “We believe that if someone needs treatment for cancer, or maternity care, that care should be available. That is why the number of covid patients has to go down. ”

During the first wave, normal, plannable care was largely discontinued. This has created a ‘reservoir’ of patients who are still waiting for treatment, says Karina Raaijmakers director of the Dutch Healthcare Authority. He calculated that during the first wave in mental health care alone, some 71,000 referrals were canceled that would otherwise have been made. Last summer, regular care was restored, but there was never any question of catching up on discontinued care from the first wave. Now that regular care is being pushed back, it does not seem that those patients will be addressed anytime soon.

An example of this is the termination of population screening for cancer, says Kuipers. The later the diagnosis, the later the treatment, the less likely the chance of a cure, he said. According to Raaijmakers, the displacement of regular care is currently taking place throughout the Netherlands, but especially in the west of the country.

To wait

The fact that regular care must be postponed to make room for corona patients may be even more damaging this winter than in the summer, warns Raaijmakers. This is because the average number of nursing days for patients is much higher in the winter months than in other seasons. The available beds will remain occupied for longer, while operations are already being scrapped everywhere to make room for corona patients. Precise calculations of the number of patients waiting are not yet available. “We don’t know exactly who they are, but we know there are people who are still waiting for care.”

Grimmer

The displacement of regular care is painful, since the lesson from the first wave was to allow regular care to continue as much as possible. The hospitals cannot be blamed for this, says Kuipers, who himself works at Erasmus MC. There, the staff has barely recovered from the first wave. Absenteeism is high, also due to corona infections among staff. “Ten percent sick leave means ten percent fewer beds.” He notices that the situation in the hospitals has become ‘gimmier’. “Patients litigate against being transferred to another hospital. We didn’t see that during the first wave. ”

It is not possible to further expand the number of hospital beds in the near future, says Kuipers. It could be in a period of several months or years, but not ‘in this period’. “There is an end to the flexibility of hospital care,” says Kuipers. According to him, 900 hospital beds were added in the summer months, including 300 IC beds. To provide care for those extra beds, ‘many thousands’ of skilled employees are needed.

Measures

On Tuesday evening, the cabinet announced a series of tightened measures to stem the growth in the number of corona infections. On Wednesday, the House of Representatives will debate the cabinet’s corona policy.

Although the opposition parties seem to show understanding for the measures, there are plenty of critical comments about the cabinet measures. “Today’s measures are necessary,” emphasizes GL leader Klaver. “But how sour it feels that we have arrived here. That has everything to do with the let it go attitude of the cabinet, failing testing policy and lack of central control. ”

‘Indecision’

“The cabinet has bumped into its own indecision at full speed”, says SP party leader Lilian Marijnissen. According to PVV leader Geert Wilders, the Netherlands will pay the price for “the failure” of Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Minister of Health Hugo de Jonge. “They’ve made an incredible mess of it.”

Follow the tweets from our parliamentary reporters in The Hague below.

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