Municipalities receive less money for care and help at home. This leads to problems that some believe will only get worse. An annual overview of 2015.
April: ‘Social Battlefield’
In the spring, the four largest home care organizations in the Netherlands sound the alarm. In a joint manifesto, they warn that 220,000 people in need of help are in danger of losing their home care. Tens of thousands of jobs in home care would also be at risk.
Zion Jongstra, director of the largest organization, TSN Thuiszorg, speaks of a ‘social battlefield’. According to him, State Secretary Martin van Rijn (Public Health) is the only one who can come up with a solution. Jongstra: “This disastrous policy leads to too much working at cross-purposes, which means that money is wasted.”
May: first rounds of layoffs
A month later, 76 domestic workers from TSN were fired in Bergen op Zoom and Steenbergen. The same is happening in various municipalities in Groningen and Drenthe, where 182 permanent employees lose their jobs.
August: big layoffs
The problems even clearer. 174 home helpers from TSN Thuiszorg lose their jobs and the number of layoffs rises to 654. This concerns 436 permanent employees and 218 employees with a temporary contract.
At home care organization Vérian in Apeldoorn, 500 layoffs in domestic help follow. At Stichting Thuiszorg Midden-Gelderland, 100 employees lose their jobs.
November: on the edge of the abyss
In the autumn, TSN Thuiszorg applies for a postponement of payment. About 12,000 employees are at risk of losing their jobs as a result. About 1,500 home helpers have been laid off so far in 2015. About 4000 people will have to deal with a salary cut of up to 30 percent of their income.
December: Van Rijn promises extra money
A month later, the cabinet decides to intervene to tackle the problems in home care. There will be a ban on freelancers, who are cheaper than permanent employees. The cabinet is allocating 200 million euros for the home care sector and will increase this to 300 million from 2017 onwards. In addition, another 200 million euros will be made available for household care.
TSN: ‘No short-term solution’
TSN Thuiszorg fears that the measures are not sufficient to prevent the imminent dismissal of 12,000 employees: “It seems that the agreement is mainly about the long term. However, the employees and clients of TSN Thuiszorg urgently need a solution. recognizes the problem and seems willing to address it, a solution in the short term should also be negotiable.”
ANBO
The ANBO Elderly Association, in turn, concludes that municipalities are ‘doing too little for elderly people in need’. In 2012, the Central Bureau of Statistics still counted 447,880 jobs in home care and nursing and care homes. Two years later, the number was 405,523 jobs. A decrease of about 10 percent.
Cees Barské, chairman of the client council of the Gelderland home care company STMG, predicts in turn that more than 250 thousand clients will have to look for another care provider in the coming period. He also believes that nearly 60,000 employees will lose their jobs in 2016. “The problems at TSN Thuiszorg are just the tip of the iceberg,” said Barské.
Have you no longer been entitled to home care since 2015? This lawyer is fighting against the municipalities over the Social Support Act and has not yet lost a case.
