News item | 03-07-2025 | 13:00
Today dozens of care and welfare organizations, patients and clients with the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport have made agreements for care and well -being in the future. In the supplementary care and welfare agreement (AZWA) we have agreed that we will keep the care accessible to anyone who needs it. Regardless of where you live, whether you have a small or large wallet, what your condition or what your age is. The negotiating parties will present the agreements with a positive advice to their supporters in the coming weeks.
Accessibility of care
In the Netherlands, care for each other is on a critical point. If we do not change anything, there will soon be insufficient help for people who need this the most. We are all getting older. That’s good news. At the same time, in the coming years, the group of people who need support and care. And the number of healthcare providers is not growing sufficiently. So it has to be different. For the preservation of the quality of existence of those who are most dependent on support and care. That is why we are going to organize it even smarter for and with each other and we accelerate the good developments that are already there. This is what the agreements are about in the supplementary care and welfare agreement. Because our support and care is invaluable. The agreements are closely related to the Ouderenzorg Ouderenzorg Outline Agreement (HLO), about which a negotiating agreement has already been reached.
Tackle staff shortage
The number of people who want and can work in healthcare is not growing sufficiently with the demand for more support and care.
Minister Daniëlle Jansen: “I am very proud that we have been able to close the care agreement, together with a large number of care parties. We will really do it differently. With these agreements we contribute to reducing the expected staff shortage with 100,000 care workers in 2028. We ensure that people enjoy working with more pleasure. We want to get more people in the end of the registration and on the end of the regulations, for example, pushing an end of the regulations, for example, pushing out. New innovations can be kept more accessible to anyone who needs it.
Prevention
Where possible we help people to prevent them from becoming unnecessarily dependent on support and care, and to become better if possible.
State Secretary Judith Tielen: “We are going to do more about prevention, so that people need less care. For example, with the new vaccination program against shingles for the elderly. A shingles infection gives a lot of pain and misery and therefore thousands of people need care. Vaccination will occur for a lot of people. In addition, I am very happy with the big step we are taking for a stevious and seals and a municipal and social, and social, and social, and social, and social and social and social and social, and social and social and social and social and social and social -based man That people can go with worries and questions.
Care for the elderly
We want support and care for the elderly to meet what they want and can do. For many elderly people, this means staying at home for as long as possible. Agreements have been made in the HLO about the preservation of independence and own control, and more support for caregivers. To strengthen that, agreements have been made in the AZWA about strengthening facilities in the neighborhood, for example for people with (starting) dementia. When living at home no longer goes, a place must be available in the nursing home.
State Secretary Nicki Pouw-Verweij: “Good care and support for our elderly people is of great importance. Our elderly deserve a society in which they can live worthy, independently and with sufficient care and social support. That is why we do everything we can to keep our care employees in the legs, so that they can provide care that matches the lives of the elderly.”
The following organizations are involved in the conclusion of the agreements in the AZWA negotiating agreement:
- Actiz
- The Dutch GGZ
- Federation Medical Specialists
- GGD GHOR Netherlands
- In
- National General Practitioners Association
- Mind
- Dutch Federation of University Medical Centers
- Patient Federation The Netherlands
- Dutch Association of Hospitals
- Social Work The Netherlands
- Association of Dutch Municipalities
- Independent Clinics Netherlands
- Nurses & Carers Netherlands
- ZorghuisNL
- Health insurers Netherlands
- Zorgstituut Nederland
- Dutch Healthcare Authority
- Healthcare and Youth Inspectorate
- Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport