Shoddy nursing homes to be better supervised

Nursing homes that do not offer proper care for the elderly, will have to deal with sharper inspection supervision. Directors of institutions that repeatedly provide poor care, will be addressed earlier. If there are no improvements, another health care institution will take over.

State Secretary Martin van Rijn (Public Health) made these promises during the debate on improving nursing home care in the Second Chamber on Tuesday night. He wants to make it clear that not providing good care is unacceptable.

Sufficient personnel is essential for this. The Secretary of State is therefore working with the professional group on a responsible composition of staff. He also wants more efforts on promoting expertise on nursing home care when it comes to retraining and further training of health care personnel.

According to Van Rijn, in the long-running debate over better care in nursing homes, the elderly care has already improved. He now wants structural solutions. "We should not think that we can solve these problems with one quick measure."

In June the Healthcare Inspectorate reported that there are quite a few problems in nursing homes. The staff is motivated, but has little time to give patients real personal attention. Older people are often restricted in their freedom. In many healthcare organizations the knowledge and skills of the employees do not fit the care needed by the elderly.

The reason for this debate is an interview in which State Secretary Van Rijn's father, Joop van Rijn, and his neighbor, Ben Oude Nijhuis, criticized the care their demented wives are receiving in an institution in the Hague. Ben Oude Nijhuis died of a brain hemorrhage at the age of 82 over this weekend.