After having previously sent an urgent letter, 27 northern organizations in elderly care will present a petition to Minister Conny Helder of Long-Term Care next week. They want to convince politicians in The Hague that cutbacks must be scrapped in order to avoid financial problems.
In the urgent letter of the beginning of this month, the organizations jointly predicted a deficit of more than 100 million euros in 2024. This is the result of an “accumulation of financial cuts that will have a dramatic effect in the longer term,” the northern administrators wrote to the minister. Among other things, reference is made to a lower budget for real estate, while buildings are expected to become more sustainable. In addition, rents, energy bills are rising and staff demand higher wages.
“We are not asking for more money, but above all we do not want to be cut,” explains Roeli Mossel of the North Dutch Cooperative of Healthcare Organizations (NNCZ). According to her, the NNCZ alone is dealing with an ‘issue of 3 million euros in 2024’. After sending the letter, she hoped for a response from The Hague, but she learned from the media that the cabinet will not change their intentions.
“The ministry has already contacted us,” says Mossel. “So there is movement, but we think more is needed to bring about that movement properly.”
The care for the elderly realizes that they do not just want to lend a hand to the government for a solution to the problems. The sector believes that it is up to it to change care for the elderly. In the urgent letter, the administrators of the northern organizations point out that care from ‘skilled people and informal care from relatives or villagers/neighbours is something that we must organize together’.
The development of new technologies in healthcare should enable people to continue living at home for longer. “Our people, together with residents of neighborhoods and villages, have to get started with the innovation,” emphasizes Mossel. “The change process requires energy, but we cannot achieve everything if we are cut short.”
The 27 organizations in Drenthe, Groningen and Friesland represent approximately 30,000 clients and an estimated 30,000 employees and volunteers.