Care of the frail elderly in the Netherlands can be organised much more efficiently and savings of €2.8bn on a total budget of €13m can be realised, according to research bureau Gupta Strategists, quoted in Friday’s Financieele Dagblad.

The research is being presented to junior health minister Jet Bussemaker on Friday. Her department is currently looking at ways to cut spending on care of the frail elderly, which is currently paid for throught the AWBZ national insurance scheme.
The Gupta research shows small organisations perform better on all fronts than big ones. In 2008, small care groups ‘produced more’, their sales grew faster and their assets and profit margins were bigger, the report said.
One reason for this could be that big organisations tend to offer different forms of AWBZ-funded care. But care of the handicapped or people with mental disabilities requires a different skill set, and there is little advantage to doing this, Gupta said.