The government is threatening to fine health insurers that don't do their utmost to shorten waiting lists for mental healthcare, State Secretary Paul Blokhuis of Public Health said to the Volkskrant.
This is one of the measures Blokhuis has planned to tackle waiting lists in mental health care. Others include asking patients to be more assertive, and making it possible to place care providers under stricter supervision.
An increasing number of children are in need of help from youth care, while half of Dutch municipalities have no more money left in their youth care budget, according to a study by broadcaster NOS and Binnenlands Bestuur among 228 municipalities.
Over three quarters of the municipalities now have waiting lists for youth care, half of the municipalities call these waiting times irresponsible. Three quarters say they've seen an increase in demand for youth care. And 87 percent don't think they'll be able to get by with the youth care budget for next year.
The Netherlands' healthcare system is the best in Europe, according to the annual index by Swedish Health Consumer Powerhouse. The Netherlands has been number in Europe on this index since 2008, the Telegraaf reports.
Powerhouse compares accessibility, cost, treatment outcome and use of medicine for their ranking. This year the Netherlands scored 927 out of the possible 1,000 points. Improvements were seen in shorter waiting lists.
Another 66 couples can not start their fertility treatment at UMC Utrecht's IVF laboratory after it was shut down due to a mix up with ICSI treatment, which resulted in 26 women maybe being fertilized with the wrong sperm.
The reorganization of child welfare and youth care had no positive effects. On the contrary, waiting lists get longer and longer and there is less staff, while the number of violence reports increase. It regularly happens that a child ends up on a waiting list and sometimes have to wait months for help, while the abuse continues, according to the Youth Care Inspectorate
The number of young people aged 21 and younger using antidepressant SSRI increased by 40 percent since 2007, according to television program Zembla based on figures from the foundation of pharmaceutical statistics SFK. Experts call the growing use of SSRI "worrying", because the drug could have suicidal behavior as a side effect
The reporting point for child abuse Veilig Thuis is dealing with months-long waiting lists, no oversight on the safety of abused children and unreachable doctors, according to a report by the Youth Care Inspectorate
Gastrointestinal and liver doctors are worried about the ever increasing waiting times for intestinal surgeries. Some patients have to wait up to 12 weeks for a surgery, which can put the patients' health at risk.
Crisis centers for children with serious behavioral problems, such as suicidal tendencies or psychosis, are over crowded and these kids often have to wait too long for the much needed help.
The waiting lists for people who want to be tested for HIV are reaching unacceptable levels. And the cause for the long waiting lists can be attributed to the cut backs on tests for sexually transmitted diseases.
