Elderly people abused in Rotterdam nursing home: report

Over the past year multiple elderly people were abused in nursing home De Leeuwenhoek in Rotterdam by staff and fellow residents, Trouw reports based on witness testimony and supporting documents.

The abuse ranges from verbal aggression to physical violence, according to the newspaper. An anonymous source also told Trouw that staff steal from the elderly residents and that the residents sometimes don't get the medicine they need.

Gijsbert van Herk, chairman of the board of Humanitas, the foundation that covers De Leeuwenhoek, told Trouw that he recognizes some of the complaints. He adds, however, that Humanitas has 10 thousand clients. In view of that, the number of incidents is "super small, although that is not an excuse", he said.

Van Herk also points out that De Leeuwenhoeck is located in a multicultural neighborhood in the center of Rotterdam. "If we look at the care in De Leeuwenhook with the Dutch glasses of a Maastricht nursing student, then yes, things happen that can not be allowed. If you look at it with Antillean glasses, then you wonder: what is the issue?" he said, according to the newspaper.

De Leeuwenhoek provides care and accommodation for elderly people with dementia. The nursing home was on the Inspectorate's blacklist in 2016, but disappeared from the list in 2017.

From Thursday NPO 2 will broadcast a television series about De Leeuwenhoek. According to Trouw's anonymous sources, the abuses were hidden from the makers of the series.