Lentis himself does not want to respond. The institution refers to David de Jong of the Mental Healthcare Waiting Times Taskforce. Within this task force, healthcare institutions, municipalities, general practitioners and insurers are jointly looking for a way to shorten waiting times in mental health care.
De Jong speaks on behalf of Lentis, health insurer Menzis and the collective of general practitioners DokNoord. He explains that Lentis is struggling with a staff shortage. By specializing, they hope to be able to help more serious cases more quickly.
According to De Jong, Lentis receives between 40 and 50 registrations for basic mental health care every month.
Basic mental health care concerns people with simple psychological problems, such as depression, ADHD, autism or anxiety. The average waiting time was about 4 to 8 months.
The number of registrations was already considerably lower than in previous years, because Lentis had been focusing on more serious psychological problems for some time.
People with basic mental health complaints must now be placed with other mental health organizations. One of them is Inter-Psy. “We are shocked, we have not been told anything,” director Ayhan Tatlicioglu responds. He had to hear the news that Lentis is stopping basic mental health care from the newspaper.
“We were already dealing with enormous waiting lists, which will only increase,” said Tatlicioglu. He emphasizes that basic mental health care does not mean that it concerns people with minor problems. Basic mental health care includes problems that, according to Tatlicioglu, can be treated well, if these people have somewhere to turn. He warns that psychological problems may worsen in the meantime.
Tatlicioglu would like to sit down with Lentis to see if a redistribution of personnel is possible. However, De Jong does not see that happening anytime soon. According to him, Lentis desperately needs all its staff. This also includes the staff who are currently involved in basic mental health care.