At least 23 terminally ill people who wanted to die at home in the past few weeks have been refused permission to do so because there is no money to pay for nursing, current affairs show Nieuwsuur reported on Thursday night.

Nationwide home nursing group Allerzorg stopped caring for terminal patients at home in Zeeland, West Brabant and in parts of Zuid-Holland, and added areas in Limburg and Nijmegen to the list last week.

Terminal care is expensive and the agency said it did not have enough funding to nurse the patients. According to home nursing umbrella group BTN, at least 40 home nursing organisations have stopped taking on new patients, no matter what form of care they need.

They say they have been given 15% less funding this year, despite the cabinet’s strategy to keep people in their own homes for longer.

Health insurance company CZ, which is reponsible for buying in care for the terminal patients in Zeeland and West Brabant, told Nieuwsuur there are enough other providers who can help.

However, spokeswoman Els Potma told the programme later that CZ had not been aware of the problems and had now made more resources available.

Insurance group VGZ, responsible for home nursing in Limburg and Nijmgen, has also taken action to lift the ban on new patients.