The client council of care provider ExpertCare is making itself heard again, now that, according to this council, two of the four care villas for disabled children will close as of July 1. The client council goes to court again and asks the Healthcare and Youth Inspectorate to intervene.
At the beginning of this year, the client council sounded the alarm when it became clear that healthcare organization ExpertCare wanted to close all four guest houses for seriously ill children from March 31. Several Drenthe families would be affected by the closure of the medical guest house in Wezep.
Patrick and Marieke Deelen from Assen, among others, told their story. Their 10-year-old son John was born with a serious muscular disease and goes to the guest house in Wezep every other weekend. According to father Patrick Deelen, they were told at the end of January that the location would close at short notice, partly due to costs and the shortage of staff.
It was impossible for affected parents to find an alternative so quickly, so they took action with the client council. John from Assen told his story to Minister Mirjam Sterk (CDA) of Long-term Care, Youth and Sport. She ultimately agreed that the care villas could remain open for the time being.
According to the client council, the locations in Vleuten and Waalre will now close as of July 1. No other place has yet been found for some of the children being treated there. The council calls this decision “reckless and potentially life-threatening”. The client council also believes that promises are being broken, because the villas would remain open until an alternative care location has been found for each child.
The client council writes that ExpertCare now wants to transfer the children to the two remaining locations in Rijswijk and Wezep, but that means hours of extra travel time, according to the parent representation. “This poses medical and practical objections for this vulnerable target group and their loved ones.”
ExpertCare does not yet mention a date for closing care villas, but confirms the intention to cluster the care offering in Rijswijk and Wezep, “to continue to guarantee the quality and safety of care for children for whom no alternative has yet been found”. The care institution reports that it has now found new care for 45 of the 81 children.
The location in Wezep, which Drenthe children use, will therefore remain open for the time being for children without follow-up care. It is not yet known when the care villa will close its doors.
According to the council, Minister Sterk and the inspectorate are the only ones who can reverse the management’s decision, although this is slightly more nuanced. Politics cannot simply force a company to remain open. However, companies are legally obliged to help their patients.
ExpertCare believes that it will help its patients by continuing to offer care at two of the four locations, while finding alternative care locations for the children in the meantime. This is done through Project Herberg; Health insurers, healthcare offices, the Dutch Healthcare Authority and the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, together with Villa Expert, are “relenting in their efforts to find follow-up care”, according to the healthcare institution.
Minister Sterk has now also responded. She said that she has “summoned ExpertCare and parent company B. Braun to the ministry to discuss the care mediation of children and the process surrounding the proposed clustering of locations”. An interview will follow at the ministry on Wednesday.