Care homes should improve relationship with families, minister says

Dutch News writes that Care institutions and local authorities should improve the way they work with family carers and volunteers, junior healthcare minister Martin van Rijn has told MPs.

Van Rijn has set aside €4m to encourage institutions to work more closely with family carers and help people stay in their own homes as long as possible. Volunteers and family members are essential to this new policy, Van Rijn told MPs in a briefing. ‘Family carers, volunteers and professionals complement each other,’ he said. ‘Care can only be adapted to the person if we look to the individual’s situation. Family carers and volunteers are an essential part of this and should therefore be involved.’

In the Netherlands care services for the elderly and handicapped are being decentralised from January 1, meaning local authorities rather than central government will determine the type of care needed and its funding.

It is not clear if this change in policy will eventually also apply to the BES islands. Meanwhile, on Saba, discussions take place to achieve a closer cooperation between the Saba Health Care Foundation and the Benevolent Foundation Saba who is running the Old Age Home. Some time ago representatives of clients of the Old Age Home have filed complaints to the Inspection Health Care BES. This lead to an official investigation by the inspection. However, powers within the Benevolent Foundation Saba have started legal action to prevent publication of the final report. In the Annual report 2013 of the Saba Health Care Foundation the closer cooperation with the Old Age Home has been announced, but the report did not hint towards any potential issues. Consequently the community is now in the unpleasant situation where we can only guess what is or was wrong in the institute.