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NOS News•today, 06:47•Changed today, 08:12
Sjoerd Mouissie
Datajournalist
Sander Zurhake
healthcare editor
Sjoerd Mouissie
Datajournalist
Sander Zurhake
healthcare editor
Healthcare is number one on the list of issues that matter most to voters when deciding their vote for the upcoming elections. This emerged from a poll by Ipsos, commissioned by the NOS, among a representative group of Dutch voters.
What is striking is that the political campaigns hardly discuss the decisions needed to keep healthcare accessible. And painful choices are unavoidable.
The state of healthcare in a nutshell:
Accessibility to basic care is no longer self-evident
In 2021, the Dutch healthcare system was considered one of the best performing worldwide by the leading research organization The Commonwealth Fund. The Netherlands was second in that ranking. Accessibility, among other things, was praised.
A lot has happened since then that has deteriorated the accessibility of Dutch healthcare.
Due to the corona pandemic, the workload increased significantly and there was a shortage of healthcare personnel.
Some waiting lists and staff shortages (such as in nursing home care) are unrelated to corona and are the result of the policy implemented under Prime Minister Rutte in recent years.
NOS/Sjoerd MouissieNursing home queue has more than doubled in 8 years
For example, the number of people on the waiting list for a nursing home has doubled since 2015. The government appeared hardly willing to expand the number of nursing home care beds.
If the budget for nursing homes is increased, it will be difficult to find staff. People are put off by the high workload and find the employment conditions poor.
Yet the staff shortage did not have to be so acute. For that we have to go back to 2013. ‘The Hague’ then decided to keep care homes accessible only to elderly people with a more serious indication. Healthcare institutions then rapidly closed nursing homes. Thousands of healthcare workers lost their jobs. These are people who are desperately needed now.
NOS/Sjoerd MouissieGGZ waiting times have been too long for years
Another sore point is the persistent waiting lists in mental health care. The maximum acceptable waiting time of 14 weeks is exceeded everywhere in the country.
There is no single cause for the deteriorating accessibility of mental health care. It is clear that the number of people asking for psychological help is increasing, while health insurers are reluctant to purchase because of the costs.
People with serious problems have to wait the longest. This is because it is attractive for institutions to treat people with relatively simple conditions first. That takes less time and is cheaper. In the meantime, people with more serious complaints may develop new problems while they wait for help. For example, patients then call on their GP, which makes him busier.
Staff shortages are increasing exponentially
The widely perceived workload leads to an outflow of different types of healthcare professionals. The number of employees looking for a job outside healthcare has increased in the past two years. The number of unfilled vacancies in healthcare has doubled since 2021. The abnormal workload during the corona pandemic has certainly contributed to absenteeism and the outflow of employees in various healthcare sectors, such as hospitals.
NOS/Sjoerd MouissieStaff shortages in healthcare are acute
Healthcare expenditure is increasing, accessibility is decreasing
Successive governments have been looking for ways to control healthcare costs for years. Healthcare is the largest cost item in the national budget. Approximately 103 billion euros (out of total government expenditure of approximately 433 billion) has been budgeted for next year. That is more than 23 percent of all Dutch expenditure and more than 11 percent of the gross national product. Internationally, the Netherlands ranks among the top in terms of healthcare expenditure.
NOS/Sjoerd Mouissie
Healthcare costs have been rising for decades, with no end in sight
NOS/Sjoerd Mouissie
The Netherlands is among the leaders in healthcare costs
NOS/Sjoerd Mouissie
The Netherlands is among the leaders in healthcare costs
Since the health care system change of 2006, health insurers have had the legal task of organizing sufficient and affordable care for everyone in the Netherlands through health care purchasing. That doesn’t work anymore. A year ago, Joep de Groot, director of health insurer CZ, said he could not guarantee “that care is always accessible to everyone”.
NOS/Sjoerd MouissieHealth insurance premiums have risen by about 62 percent in ten years
And the health insurance premium is increasing (by at least 60 percent since 2014), although this increase is mainly attributable to inflation and increased personnel costs.
Politics sees informal care as a solution
Since the nursing homes were closed en masse as a cost-cutting measure in 2013, the number of people providing informal care has increased sharply. A majority in Parliament thought this was a good measure at the time. But last month the House of Representatives passed a motion to restore the care home to its former glory.
In order to tackle staff shortages, living at home for longer does not appear to be very efficient. If something goes wrong at home at night, a care provider must go to an elderly person. In a nursing home, a care provider can help two people at the same time.
Yet many political parties still see informal caregivers as the solution to a social problem. But it is not, if you look at the population structure of the Netherlands.
NOS/Sjoerd MouissieAging in 2040: will there be enough informal caregivers left?
The population pyramid shows that 45 to 65 year olds are currently the strong shoulders of society. For example, this group provides a relatively large amount of informal care and grandparents also regularly look after their grandchildren when their parents are working.
But the generation of ‘strong shoulders’ is also getting older. And the question is whether society will be able to provide care for these people in, say, twenty years.
Political parties do not yet really dare to speak out about this.
2023-11-04 05:47:03
#election #theme #healthcare #crucial #voter #avoided #politician
