News item | 2023-02-20 | 4:30 pm
The Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS) is allocating € 8.9 million to help people find the right care. Municipalities can use this money to appoint a municipal care adviser. This advisor stands next to a client and looks for the best care for that person. The money from the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport allows municipalities to experiment with better cooperation between different healthcare parties.
The experiments ensure that people get the help they need because organizations work better together.
“If, as an elderly person, you need long-term and intensive care, things have to be arranged with municipalities, but you can also claim care through the health insurance. To create clarity and peace of mind and to make care available from different domains, it can help if there is someone who can point you in the right direction. That is what these advisers are intended for,” said Minister Helder.
Healthcare is made up of different domains. For example, there is the Social Support Act, which is paid for by municipalities. But there is also district nursing. For this, as a person in need of care, you should not turn to the municipality, but rather to the health insurer. The Ministry of VWS would like care providers to work across these different domains so that people receive the right care in the right place. That is why three municipalities (Dongen, Ede and Hoogeveen) have started tests in recent years in which a central person stands next to the client. He gives advice and looks for the best care in both domains.
This central person or arranger is paid by the municipality with the support of the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport and has the authority to promise people care from both the WMO and the district nursing. In this way, that central person can be a link between the two care domains. The ultimate goal is to ensure that people receive better help and do not have to make use of the Long-Term Care Act, the Wlz. This is necessary to ensure that the Wlz remains accessible to those who really need it.
Test is expanded
Extensive evaluations show that these tests have been successful: in the three municipalities, clients were indeed better served and fewer people ended up under the Long-Term Care Act. That is why Minister Conny Helder (Long-term Care and Sport) is now expanding the trial. As of today, it will make € 8.9 million available for this purpose. That money is intended for other municipalities that also want such a central person or arranger, but they may also come up with other proposals to prevent people from having to make use of the Long-Term Care Act. In addition, money will be provided for the first three municipalities to continue their working method.
This is the first funding round. To give municipalities enough time to prepare the application, there will also be a second round. More information can be found at https://www.dus-i.nl/subsidies/specific-distribution-domain-transcending-collaboration.
For more information, please contact press officer Rard van Kollenburg (06-29647323; [email protected])