First-line coalition requests clarity about internal supervision obligations

In the letter to Parliament, Minister Helder indicates that the pause button applies retroactively to the financial years 2022 and 2023. The pause button only applies to existing healthcare providers (providers who already had a practice before January 1, 2022). The pause button does not apply to new providers (who started after January 1, 2022) and providers where a change in the legal form took place after January 1, 2022, as a result of which the Chamber of Commerce number has changed. They must provide annual accounts for 2022 and 2023.

The ELC is pleased that the minister has listened to the concerns in practice and has put the annual reporting for existing providers on hold. This gives healthcare providers more time to prepare. However, in our opinion, a two-year delay is not enough. Even in two years’ time, the annual accountability obligation for primary care providers will take up a lot of time. The ELC therefore still argues for adjustment instead of just postponement.

In her letter, the minister refers to administrative agreements that were made last year with the ELC about the content of the public annual accounts. The ELC does not recognize this statement by the minister. The ELC has frequently discussed the content of the annual accounts with VWS, but the aim has always been: exception of primary care.

In the letter to Parliament, the minister indicates that, in response to the signals from primary care about the disproportionality of the obligation to establish internal supervision for more than 25 employees, she wants to consider whether it would not be better to shift the limit for internal supervision. . In the letter she does not make any statement about where the boundary should be drawn because she first wants to explore all the pros and cons. She will share the results of this exploration with the House by the middle of next year.

The ELC is positive about the fact that the minister takes the concerns from the field seriously and is aware of the undesirable consequences of the number limit of 25 employees. However, the ELC asks the minister to provide clarity in the short term about what this means for the obligation of primary care providers to have internal supervision set up by January 1. Does this obligation remain or does the minister’s statement mean that they can feel released from this obligation until further notice? Since such an obligation costs small-scale healthcare providers in primary care a lot of time and money, it is important for them to know in a timely manner what is expected of them in this regard.

The ELC emphasizes that it is very positive about the fact that the minister shows that he listens to the field and takes the objections seriously. However, the ELC remains of the opinion that both annual reporting and the establishment of internal supervision remain a disproportionate burden on small-scale healthcare providers in primary care. That is why the ELC continues to argue for repair legislation and we call on the House of Representatives to continue to look at the proportionality of (new) legislation and to be aware of cumulative effects.

On October 3, the Advisory Board on Regulatory Burden (ATR) provided a technical briefing in the House of Representatives on the effects of regulatory burden on, among others, healthcare professionals. The report they prepared for this briefing clearly shows that the quality of proposed regulations in healthcare is declining. Too often, the regulatory burden consequences for healthcare institutions, professionals and citizens are not or insufficiently mapped out. This makes well-considered decision-making impossible in some cases.

In the report, ATR makes a number of recommendations to the House of Representatives that can help prevent or remove unnecessary regulatory burden. For example, the council calls on MPs not to automatically request new legislation and regulations in the event of incidents. But first carefully analyze which problem needs to be solved and what may be required for this.