FNV trade union poses questions after fatal stabbing at TBS clinic

The FNV union has many questions about the fatal stabbing in the Veldzicht detention center in Balkbrug. According to FNV director Yntse Koenen, the incident comes as a shock not only to the employees of the Overijssel clinic itself, but to all employees of prisons and other judicial institutions.

A patient at the clinic stabbed an employee to death and injured two others on Saturday, locked himself in another room and tried to set a fire. Then he took his own life. How the incident could have happened is still under investigation.

"This is very frightening. And also cause for great concern. I immediately contacted the director-general of the Custodial Institutions Service and said that authorities must get to the bottom of this," says Koenen. "These are incidents with a very large impact. As FNV, we can only sympathize with staff and relatives at the moment."

The FNV questions how the detainee could gain access to the staff room, among other things. It is also important to know whether the personnel team was in order. "Then it's not just about the number, but also whether it was a stable team that was attuned to each other. Those kinds of questions loom, but the investigation has yet to show what exactly happened."

In general, Koenen sees that the workload is high in prisons and other penitentiary institutions, including institutions where psychiatric care is provided. But he does not want to directly connect this structural problem with the fatal stabbing in Balkbrug without knowing the exact facts. "This research must be judged on its own merits."