Election: home nursing centre stage as campaign heats up

Thursday 23 August 2012

People should be prepared to organise and pay for help at home themselves and government support should be seen as a last resort, health minister Edith Schippers says in an interview with the AD.

'There is nothing odd about washing your mother's windows,' Schippers said. If the current situation continues home care will become unaffordable, the minister said.

'Many people have a cleaner whom they pay for themselves but whom they show the door as soon as they actually need a home help who is paid from collective resources,' she told the paper.

Community nursing

Schippers also said she is in favour of employing more district nurses to assess if people need extra help or if family and neighbours can fill the gap, a point also raised by the Labour party in a newspaper interview.

Spokeswoman Jetta Klijnsma told Trouw her party wants to employ 10,000 new community-based nurses and set up 1,000 local health centres.

An increase in community nursing will cut costs and provide a better overview of local needs, Labour's number two on the election list said.

The new health centres, employing doctors, physiotherapists, pharmacists and other healthcare professionals will reduce the number of people going to hospital for help, Klijnsma told the paper.

How should we cope with the mounting cost of healthcare? Share your thoughts in the comment box below.

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