600 million euros urgently need to be invested in elderly care, according to Nicki Pouw-Verweij, BBB’s healthcare portfolio holder. She advocates additional investments in care homes, where older people with less serious health problems can stay. Pouw-Verweij emphasizes that it is necessary to invest instead of cutting back. She believes that financial coverage is a political choice and prefers to spend money on elderly institutions, nursing home places and care homes instead of on other things such as nitrogen measures or buying out farmers.
The healthcare sector has been confronted with announced cuts by the government for weeks. These cuts, which would initially amount to 460 million euros in 2024, have raised concerns in the elderly care sector. Partly due to efforts by the House of Representatives, some of these cuts have been reversed. But there are still too many plans to make cuts.
BBB is concerned about the consequences of these cuts, especially after hearing stories from the Blanckenborg care center in Blijham. If the cuts continue, they will have to save 800,000 euros, which they say would have serious consequences for the care and well-being of their residents. Employees at the care center are already experiencing great workload, which endangers the safety and care of the residents.
The financial situation in elderly care is alarming, as shown in the recent BDO Benchmark Elderly Care 2023 report. This highlights the poor results of elderly care institutions, with results halving compared to 2021. This situation is referred to as “Code Red” by BDO chartered accountant Mike Tagage.
To tackle these problems, Pouw-Verweij advocates a large-scale investment of 600 million euros in elderly care, instead of cutbacks. BBB mainly wants to invest this money in nursing homes, which are comparable to the former retirement homes, to treat less ill patients. Tagage acknowledges that this could be a possible solution, but warns that a phased approach is needed to stabilize the sector. The news that a 225 million euro cut in elderly care has been canceled, as reported by NRC on September 18, 2023, can be seen as a positive development in this context.