Reports of fake diplomas in healthcare doubled last year

Last year, the Inspectorate for Health and Youth Care received 95 reports of healthcare workers working with a fake diplomas, double the number of the previous year. It also received 11 reports of employees who had falsified their certificate of good conduct (VOG), RTL Nieuws reports.

Everyone who works in the healthcare sector, and several other industries, require a VOG. It states that you don’t have a criminal record, among other things.

On Thursday, eight former healthcare workers will appear in court on suspicion of providing care without the proper qualifications. The Public Prosecution Service (OM) believes they faked their diplomas and VOG.

“These are serious cases because of possible health risks,” the OM told RTL Nieuws. According to the OM, one suspect used a fake diploma from ROC in Amsterdam and a falsified VOG to work with children for several healthcare institutions in the country.

With the prosecution of these suspects, the Inspectorate hopes to send a strong signal to fraudsters and healthcare institutions. “False documents in healthcare pose a threat to the quality of care for vulnerable patients.”

The Inspectorate also called on healthcare institutions to better check their employees’ documents. These checks are sometimes outsourced to intermediaries or employment agencies. But according to the Inspectorate, “ultimately, the employers themselves remain responsible for that screening.”

Minister Conny Helder for Medical Care also called on employers to notify the Ministry and the police if they find an employee is using a falsified diploma. The authorities can't prosecute these fraudsters if employers don’t file a report.

The Inspectorate also wants health and youth care institutions to better use its register of people previously dismissed from healthcare institutions for serious dysfunction. “Last year, employers asked 10,854 times if their applicant had a note. Much less than the number of applications in the healthcare and youth services in a whole year,” the Inspectorate said.