Some 17,000 home care workers have lost their jobs in the past 18 months as home care organisations go bust, the FNV trade union federation says in Tuesday’s Financieele Dagblad.

Responsibility for home nursing was transferred from national to local government in January 2015 and budgets were cut by 40%. Since then, dozens of firms offering home nursing services have gone bankrupt and some local authorities have stopped providing help altogether.

‘Councils have to stop forcing through cuts so we can prevent further redundancies,’ spokeswoman Sarah Dobbe told the paper. The FNV says councils are ignoring a recent court ruling which said home care services can only be withdrawn or reduced after an independent review.