NHThe Northwest Hospital where Texel residents can stay overnight after emergency care
NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 20:39
After a late discharge from hospital, unable to return home because the last boat has already left. It happens to about 45 residents of Texel every year. After discharge from the Northwest Hospital in Den Helder, they are then put out on the street with a list of nearby hotels. As of today, that no longer happens.
Mariëlle from Texel, among others, experienced it. She was taken by ambulance on the last boat to the hospital on the mainland. She was fired a few hours later. “The hotels that the hospital recommends do not have a night reception and are not easily accessible after half past nine in the evening,” she previously told the regional broadcaster.
General practitioners on Texel recognize the problem, the woman experienced. “They hardly dare to send people to the hospital in the evening.” She wrote a letter to the then mayor of Texel, but received no response.
The hospital in Den Helder did respond, but did not want to help. “As a hospital, we cannot have a hotel function,” said a spokesperson there about last month. “And admitting patients without a need for care is also not appropriate.”
A night boat can sail to and from Texel in the event of an emergency. But that only happens by reservation. This becomes difficult in the event of an unexpected hospital admission, says Mariëlle. “Plus, the costs are extremely high.”
NHMariëlle Hin
Spend the night in the hall
Mariëlle called on people on Facebook to share their experiences. This was responded to en masse. For example, a lady who had had a stroke wrote that she did not dare to call an ambulance for fear that she would not be able to return to the island in the evening. A man was taken to hospital with heart problems, but when doctors could not find a cause he was discharged at midnight. “He had nothing with him,” says Mariëlle. “Not even glasses.”
The man was eventually allowed to spend the night in the hospital hallway. But that is not enough, Mariëlle thought. “We live in 2024. Even if it is just a room with a bed and a few chairs where people can stay between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.”
Family rooms
Although the hospital initially indicated that it was not a hotel, a solution was found after discussions with the new Texel mayor Mark Pol.
It was found in two family rooms of the hospital. The rooms are actually intended for parents of children in hospital and for partners of women staying in the maternity ward. From now on, patients who are discharged after the last boat back to Texel has already left can also spend the night there.
It is expected that there will always be a family room available for Texel residents. If both rooms are occupied, the discharged patients are referred back to a nearby hotel. And if necessary, they are provided with clothing.
2024-03-13 19:39:03
#Texel #residents #longer #street #night #hospitalized
