Clinics investigated

Dutch labour party, PvdA, is calling for a greater level of transparency from criminal psychiatric clinics, known in the Netherlands as TBS clinics. Party MPs want data on performance, therapies and check-outs to be presented in a clearer and more comprehensible manner.

PvdA MP Ahmed Marcouch will raise this issue during a debate on TBS with State Secretary of Justice Fred Teeven. Marcouch emphasizes that his proposal is not intended “to deal” with the forensic psychiatric clinics, "because they do their job very well". He says, “It’s more to stimulate the institutions to exchange knowledge and to improve in general". According to the PvdA MP, the clinics at this moment are too much like "anonymous and closed strongholds." Marcouch is also concerned about societal turmoil should a patient escape. "By providing more information, everything that’s happening becomes more comprehensible for the average Dutch", says Marcouch. He also recognizes that if more extensive information is available, it can be used by lawyers to plead for a specific TBS clinic on behalf of their clients. According to Marcouch this already happens on a small-scale and it would be a good thing if, with this extra information, the best possible clinic can be found that offers the best therapy for the convicted.