News item | 16-09-2022 | 21:15
Today Actiz, the Dutch GGZ, the Federation of Medical Specialists, InEen, the Dutch Federation of University Medical Centers, the Dutch Association of Hospitals, the Netherlands Patient Federation, the Association of Dutch Municipalities, Caregivers and Nurses in the Netherlands, Independent Clinics in the Netherlands, ZorgthuisNL, Health Insurers Netherlands together with the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport signed the Integrated Care Agreement. In addition, the National Health Care Institute and the Dutch Healthcare Authority were closely involved in the conclusion of the agreement. With this agreement, an important step has been taken to meet the major challenges facing healthcare. In the integrated care agreement, it is agreed, among other things, that parties must cooperate more intensively with each other, primary care must be strengthened and more efforts will be made on prevention. It must also be and remain attractive for healthcare providers to work in healthcare. It is the first time that so many parties across the entire breadth of healthcare have made agreements together about the course for the coming years.
Healthcare is under pressure and so the healthcare sector, politicians and society must work together to keep healthcare accessible and affordable for everyone and to improve quality.
“In recent months, all parties have worked very hard to reach an agreement. Everyone shares the urgency and it is really special that we have come to a joint plan in this way. These negotiations did not always go smoothly and some parties still have concerns about implementation. I understand those concerns, but have every confidence that we can embark on this new course with the signatories. The agreement is emphatically a starting point; the time for talking together is now over, it is now time to make it happen together,” said Minister Ernst Kuipers of Health, Welfare and Sport.
The parties have agreed to actively monitor progress by discussing progress every three months and actively addressing each other about their responsibilities.
Challenges
It is no secret that significant steps need to be taken to keep healthcare in the Netherlands accessible and affordable, now and in the future. The need for care is increasing, more people are getting older and there is not enough staff. It is too busy in many places in healthcare. As a result, people do not always receive the care they need on time. The affordability of healthcare is also a challenge. Healthcare costs are rising due to, for example, the increasing demand for healthcare and the use of expensive medicines, but the costs cannot continue to rise at the same rate as in previous years, if healthcare is to remain affordable and accessible to everyone in the future. And of course there must also be money for other important expenses such as climate, housing, security and education.
“Doing nothing is not an option. If we want to maintain warm and loving care for those who really need it, we have to make difficult choices. The fact that we can now make those choices together with the healthcare field and the municipalities is a great step,” said Conny Helder, Minister for Long-term Care and Sport.
Assumptions
Far-reaching cooperation between the regions and the various care domains, such as general practitioner care, mental health care, municipalities and hospitals is one of the basic principles of the integrated care agreement. Reinforcing primary care with more time for patients and encouraging a healthy lifestyle to prevent the need for care also play a major role in the agreement. Just like the focus on appropriate care: care that demonstrably works, in the right place, in consultation with the patient.
In addition, it has been agreed that it must be and remain attractive to work in healthcare, for example by improving career opportunities for healthcare personnel, reducing work pressure and limiting administrative tasks. The available capacity must be used optimally without wasting time, energy and money. To this end, for example, the exchange of data between healthcare providers and between healthcare providers and patients must be improved and technological tools must be used more, to be able to help patients digitally and remotely, where possible. In this way, people can be helped more quickly and preferably in their home environment.
Not only must healthcare become future-proof, healthcare can and must also be much more sustainable. That is why agreements have been made about green and climate-neutral care, with economical and circular use of raw materials and materials with a minimal impact on the climate, the environment and the living environment.
State Secretary Maarten van Ooijen: “People who are lonely sometimes benefit more from a community center than a psychologist. People who want to live healthier can sometimes benefit more from a neighborhood sports coach than from a dietician. Municipalities and the social domain are extremely important partners in making a change in healthcare. That is why it is very good that they participate fully in these agreements. Together we create more connections between the social domain and the medical domains, so that we can better help people who need it together.”
Financial agreements
Agreements have been made about the affordability of care. A lot of money is spent on care and that is and remains important, but costs should not continue to grow unchecked.
In order to align with the aim of strengthening primary care, the budgets for, for example, general practitioner care and district nursing have seen more growth than sectors in secondary care, such as specialist medical care and mental health care. For example, the budget for both general practitioner care and district nursing will rise to more than 4 billion euros in 2026 in the coming years.
Agreements have also been made about wage developments in line with the market and the distribution of the government contribution in the development of labor costs. The Coalition Agreement stipulates that €2.8 billion is available for the transformation, in addition to specific investment resources.
Continuation
The agreements will be translated into concrete actions in the near future. The progress of the agreements is monitored and actions are tested for sustainability. These are not easy tasks, but by signing this agreement, the parties show that they are fully committed to making healthcare future-proof in the coming years. The ministry will remain in talks with the parties that have not signed today. The aim is for these parties to commit themselves to the care agreement in due course.