A small committee of participants from Daat Drenthe handed over almost 1400 signatures to the management of GGZ Drenthe this afternoon. The participants have been campaigning since November for the preservation of the eight care work companies.
“Look, here you get the book containing our stories and the signatures”, say Natasja and Aukje. They also hand over a package containing a vase with the text ‘Care in the right place’. “We hope you will read this and take it seriously.”
A small group of participants were then allowed to talk to director of care Erik Mulder and Hilda van der Hek, director of operational management. GGZ Drenthe wants to close or dispose of the eight care work companies (the so-called Daat branches of the GGZ, ed.). At these locations in Hoogeveen, Assen, Beilen and Emmen, people with psychological problems receive daytime activities or guidance to regular work.
The group of participants who came to Assen this afternoon want to know the status of the proposed closure, whether a takeover candidate is in the picture and what the future looks like for the participants.
The uncertainty that the more than four hundred participants and 45 supervisors have been in since November is debilitating, according to Natasja Van Viersen. “It’s terrible for most people. The tension is unbearable,” she says. “There are people who already need more medication or who are dying and no longer dare to go to the workplace because the atmosphere is bad.”
GGZ Drenthe wants to divest the care work companies because the Daat branches no longer fit in well with the current course, according to the management. “This part of the care as it is now offered is no longer tenable in the current organization,” says Erik Mulder, Director of Care. “We no longer manage to organize that properly. There are other parties who do it better. This is no longer profitable within a mental health company, so that the care for these people can no longer be maintained properly.”
“It is very conceivable that the uncertainty is great,” continues Mulder. “It is important for many people to have something to hold on to and something to do during the day. If that is under pressure and uncertain, it is good to imagine that it is very bad. It is therefore good to talk to the participants in to have a conversation to experience what that does to them.”