Dissatisfaction among the municipal councilors in Meppel. Recently, municipalities in Drenthe took action for pediatric heart surgery at the UMCG in Groningen. In a letter to fire they asked Minister Ernst Kuipers of Public Health to prevent closure. But Meppel was the only municipality in Drenthe that did not sign the letter, without consulting the council members. They will now ensure that Meppel takes action.
Councilor Jeannet Bos (D66) is one of the councilors who was surprised at the lack of her municipality in the action. “We weren’t even informed,” she says. She has now learned from alderman Jaap van der Haar why Meppel does not support the action. He does not think the action of the other municipalities is nuanced enough. According to Van der Haar, closing the pediatric heart surgery in Groningen is an option if it improves the quality of care.
Quality care
“What are you actually saying?” Bos continues. “When the closure was announced, they were told that the care provided in Groningen was less good. But these turned out to be wrong figures and were quickly rectified. The care in Groningen is just as good as in the rest of the Netherlands, maybe even better.” That cannot be the reason for the closure, which is why the provincial factions of D66 also sent letters to the minister and the House of Representatives when the closure turned out to continue, asking not to close.”
According to Bos, UMCG needs these kinds of departments. She fears a clear cut in the North. “It is a university hospital. This kind of specialization is part of that. You are not assigned such a department as a hospital just like that. That is why you should cherish what is there at the moment and not remove anything without good reason. If the quality were substandard, I you have a good reason, but that is not the case.”
Straighten up
More often heard criticism is that the number of patients at pediatric heart surgery in Groningen is small. According to Bos, the impact that the news has made shows a different picture. “We can see from the amount of responses how many people have benefited from that care. Huge protests and signature campaigns have been set up by former patients and their parents. Many parents also say that they feel safe with heart surgery so close by. not travel as far as their child needs that care.”
This afternoon, five questions were submitted to the alderman, signed by all eight parties in the city council of Meppel. The parties hope that this will provide more clarity about the choice of the alderman. They also ask whether the mayor and aldermen are still prepared to draw up a statement in which the content of the fire letter is supported. “We want to correct this. We absolutely do not want to be the only Drenthe municipality that does not support it. We are going to rectify that,” Bos concludes.