Mental health services lose track of 62,500 people, says report

A quarter of adults with a severe mental illness in the Netherlands – an estimated 62,500 people – are receiving no or insufficient care and have dropped out of sight of mental health services altogether, according to a report from the sector body de Nederlandse GGZ.

The organisation puts the total number of adults with a severe mental illness at around 250,000. What goes wrong, it says, is rarely the treatment itself but the handover – the point at which someone leaves a clinic, moves house or finishes a prison sentence.

“A discharge from a clinic, a house move or the end of a period in detention must not become the moment at which someone loses their support,” GGZ chair Ruth Peetoom said in a statement on Tuesday. “A psychological vulnerability does not disappear when a care pathway or an assessment comes to an end.”

Nowhere to go
The housing crisis is one of the biggest obstacles in helping patients through the transition out of care. The report calculates that 3,980 social housing units are needed each year for people leaving sheltered accommodation, but only 1,320 came free in 2023.

Around 33,000 people aged between 18 and 65 were registered as homeless at the start of 2024.

The pattern is similar for people leaving prison. Of the roughly 5,000 people released each year after more than three months inside, 27% are homeless or have no known address immediately afterwards, and almost half reoffend within two years.

Outreach 
The report calls for assertive outreach – teams that actively go looking for people who are not asking for help – to be made a statutory duty for councils again.

It has not been one since social care was devolved in 2015, and funding is now split between health insurers, councils and central government, on top of the pressure on waiting lists that has already prompted legal action against the state.

Debate about severe mental illness in the Netherlands is dominated by figures on nuisance and public safety, the report says. It puts the number of people who pose a safety risk to others at around 1,500, against 24,000 to 60,000 who are a risk to themselves, through self-neglect, homelessness or avoiding care.

If you are struggling with your mental health, support is available. The MIND Hulplijn offers free, anonymous advice on 0900-1450, on weekdays from 9am to 9pm, or via mindhulplijn.nl. In a crisis, contact your family doctor or call 113.