About a third of 150 Dutch nursing homes fail to meet safety and care standards, according to a Health Care Inspectorate (IGZ) report published on Monday.

The report says that 38 of the homes are under ‘intensive monitoring’ and 11 caused serious concerns, where more intervention is required.

Junior health secretary Martin van Rijn told ANP that the situation is ‘unacceptable’ and that the worst nursing homes must ‘improve or close’.

These 11 homes will have a special intervention team that may replace directors, stop admissions or even close the homes.

The report says that since people now live in their own homes for longer, their needs are more complex by the time they move to a nursing home.

It reports that care workers often had inadequate knowledge, and 35% of homes did not offer enough training. More than a quarter did not have a good plan to care for patients with dementia, for instance.

The inspections follow a 2014 report aimed at improving care for older people. On a positive note, it did say 91% of homes used client feedback to improve care and 88% responded to families’ complaints, to get better.