State pays thousands to TBS patients forced to wait in prison cells as clinics overcrowd
The Dutch state is paying rising compensation to psychiatric patients under TBS (mandatory treatment in a secure mental health facility) who are forced to wait in ordinary prison cells due to overcrowded TBS clinics, AD reports.
Since 2020, the number of patients held in regular cells has quintupled. In 2020, 49 were affected; by 2023, 124; last year, 174. Currently, 250 patients await placement, with some waiting more than two years. Courts are increasingly asked to extend TBS orders even when treatment has not yet begun.
Patients waiting over four months are entitled to compensation. In 2023, the state paid more than 81,000 euros; last year, payments rose to 356,554 euros. The average per patient was 2,875 euros, with one individual receiving 19,000 euros. Experts and legal practitioners have long warned that limited clinic capacity, slow outflow, and municipal resistance to housing former TBS patients put the system under severe strain.
The Ministry of Justice and Security plans to add 200 new clinic beds by 2030, but recruiting qualified staff remains a challenge. Transfers to less secure forensic psychiatric institutions are limited, leaving some offenders untreated and still at large.
The news comes as, on Friday at the Vught facility—which houses roughly 700 prisoners, including alleged organized crime figure Ridouan Taghi and convicted terrorists—three staff members were taken hostage on a TBS psychiatric ward by a detainee. One staff member was rescued during the incident, and the other two were released later. Authorities said all three received follow-up care and were “doing well under the circumstances.”
The detainee has been identified by multiple media outlets as Corné H., who was sentenced last year to nine months in prison and mandatory TBS for holding employees hostage at Café Petticoat in Ede. His sentence was reduced from the prosecutor’s demand so that he could begin psychiatric treatment as soon as possible. Psychologists and psychiatrists said his actions appeared to be a desperate call for help, and there was no available place for him in a TBS clinic at the time.
The Dutch Prison Service did not disclose how the hostage situation occurred, whether H. was armed, or his current location. Police said the investigation is ongoing and declined further comment.
Carla Wijnhoven, director of PI Vught, said, “This incident has understandably had a major impact on everyone involved. The care and involvement shown, both within and outside our organization, have not gone unnoticed. We are now focusing on providing good support for our people.”
