The retirement home and the nursing home must return. JA21, FvD, SP and PVV advocated this in the Provincial Council. A motion to raise the alarm about the stagnation of elderly care received broad support from PS.
“With the disappearance of care homes and retirement homes, a large gap has opened up between living at home and nursing homes,” the Provincial Council concludes. “Elderly people are forced to continue living at home until the very last moment, even if that is no longer possible in practice. This leads to many problems and personal suffering. Loneliness among the elderly has also increased enormously,” explains Harry Omlo of JA21 who took the initiative for the motion.
The Provincial Council is calling on industry and professional associations in elderly care to build suitable homes and nursing homes for the elderly. And build new care homes, then you concentrate care, reduce costs and that can also create space on the housing market.
The province itself must include in its policy that research is initiated into the reintroduction of retirement homes and care homes. Housing representative Yvonne Turenhout is already in the ‘yes’ position: “Research already shows that there will be a strong focus on housing for the elderly until 2030 and we will include that in the new housing agenda.”
“The policy for the elderly of the last cabinet was aimed at living at home for as long as possible, and if this is really no longer possible, there is room in the nursing home. But that system squeaks and creaks,” NOS and Nieuwsuur write.
Aad de Groot, CEO of health insurer DSW, also advocates a new approach to elderly care at Nieuwsuur. “Living at home is good in itself, but we see that it has gone through the motions.” De Groot sees a reform of elderly care, which resembles the policy of the past with the nursing home as an intermediate step, as his biggest priority. “It is an acute problem because of the aging population. The demand for care from the elderly is increasing, but it is also becoming more complex. On the other hand, there is a shortage of healthcare workers and the number of informal caregivers is decreasing. We are going to have a huge problem with elderly care in the future. to be able to organize well.”
In 2013, the Rutte II cabinet decided to cut back on elderly care by closing nursing homes. Eight hundred houses closed their doors. From now on, the community nurse provided care at home. Access to the nursing home was also restricted. Many elderly people with complex care needs ended up on the waiting list. There are currently 22,218 elderly people waiting for a place in the nursing home.