Intensive care still under high pressure from Covid, RS, injuries

Seven hospitals are still unable to deliver critical scheduled care, such as cancer treatments, due to the pressure on intensive care units. In addition to the coronavirus, this pressure is caused by more injuries and the RS virus, the Dutch Healthcare Authority (NZa) reported in advice to the cabinet.

The NZa warned the cabinet that the virus is "really not defeated yet". "We have seen in the summer that the risk of a revival is lurking. With the current ICU occupancy by Covid patients, little is needed to have to scale down (critical) scheduled care again on a large scale," according to the NZa, who, partly for this reason, advised not to let go of all coronavirus measures yet.

Chief inspector Korrie Louwes of the Health and Youth Care Inspectorate also pointed out that there are hospitals that again have to scale down some of the planned care. According to her, however, there are "no sings that critical scheduled care can no longer be provided within the six-week period".

She wrote to the cabinet that the healthcare providers are concerned about the increasing pressure on healthcare in the autumn, because of the possible rising infection rates. According to Louwes, the pressure from coronavirus patients is stable, but already "certainly significant".

"In addition, the pressure on acute care has been high for a long time," said the chief inspector. Due to a baby boom, there are more births in hospitals, many young children have also been admitted with the RS virus, and many patients are in the emergency room due to excessive alcohol consumption, violent incidents, and traffic accidents. "In addition, hospitals try to catch up as much as possible with delayed care."

Due to the coronavirus crisis, hospitals and clinics are estimated to have to catch up between 170,000 and 210,000 surgeries.