Health Minister very concerned about extra cuts to healthcare budget
Public Health Minister Fleur Agema is very concerned about new cuts in the healthcare budget. She pointed out that the healthcare sector already faced major staff shortages and said that further cuts would worsen the situation, NOS reports.
This week, the coalition parties agreed with some opposition parties to pay for canceling some education cuts by, among other things, cutting back on training medical specialists and these specialists’ salaries. The Tweede Kamer, the lower house of the Dutch parliament, approved the adjustments on Thursday.
Agema said that she had been planning to tackle the excessive salaries of some specialists, but now she also has to cut training courses. According to the PVV Minister, that does not only affect specialists but also nurses. “I am very concerned about that. This has come as a sock to me,” she said.
“The labor market in healthcare is on the verge of collapse. If more cuts are made now, how will we still have people at the bedside later?” Agema said. She said she would map out the precise consequences of the budget adjustments and discuss them with the healthcare sector.
V&VN, the professional association of nurses, is also very concerned. “We think that the coalition is making a serious mistake,” director Bianca Buurman told RTL Nieuws. She worries that the cuts will affect the subsidy pot nurses use to stay up to date on their medical knowledge. “We use it for all kinds of additional and refresher training for nurses in hospitals.”
Finance Minister Eelco Heinen seems much less alarmed. He was indirectly involved in the negotiations between the coalition and the opposition parties. “I checked whether the sums were correct. I see this as proper coverage. Yesterday, all adjustments to budgets were adopted. That means the cutbacks have been booked.”
Heinen said he is aware of Agema’s concerns. “We think it is possible. I assume that she has been briefed by Mr. Wilders.”
