Could the investigation into the disturbing statements of the sick Asser nurse about killing corona patients really have been different?
The provisional release of the nurse suspected of killing corona patients in the Asser hospital raises questions about the actions of GGZ Drenthe, the Wilhelmina Hospital and the Public Prosecution Service.
During treatments with psychologists from GGZ Drenthe, the suspected nurse said that he has remorse because he would have killed corona patients in the hospital. But apparently, according to the judge, no other indications have been found so far for the suspicion that he really actively ended the lives of patients. So it may very well have happened only in the perception of this man. A man who sought psychiatric help, so was clearly confused.
The Public Prosecution Service is conducting further research into the medical data of patients. But if indeed no further evidence is found at all, then something has gone seriously wrong in this case.
Mortality in Assen below average
Unfortunately, many hundreds of corona patients have died in the corona years, in all hospitals in the Netherlands. It was certainly a serious illness in the beginning, against which the care was quite powerless. Hence all the social panic. There are no indications that more corona patients have died in Wilhelmina Hospital Assen than in other hospitals. The records of the hospitals themselves show that mortality in Assen was somewhat below average.
In view of these known facts, it is remarkable that the GGZ Drenthe decided to break medical confidentiality at the time. The nurse was not at work, so there was no direct risk to other patients.
The name of the nurse in question has been dragged through the mud. The arrest of the nurse has caused a lot of social unrest. Families of deceased patients are understandably shocked. Could it really not have been possible to approach this matter differently?