Commercial nursing homes are not working well enough

Living and caring separately

Commercial nursing homes are allowed to make a profit because they live on paper and keep care separate. A client pays the rent, the care is paid by the PGB. Profits can be made on the residential part, but this system carries a risk.

“The most important item of expenditure in the field of health is personnel, which represents around 80%. If you want to make a profit, the channels will first take a critical look at this”, warns Patrick Jeurisse, Professor of Affordable and Accessible Health Care at Radboud University Medical Center. .

Save on personnel costs

In practice, he says, you see that many of these types of establishments therefore try to save on staffing costs and that often means fewer hands on the bed. “And it’s related to quality.”

Meanwhile, the channels – often foreign – are making big profits, says Jeurisse. “We’re seeing profit rates between 7% and 15%, which is almost as profitable as owning Apple stock.”

No legal frameworks

And that while older people with dementia receive worse care, Verenso, the professional association for specialists in geriatric medicine, sees it. “We are concerned about this, often there is not enough knowledge about dementia and how to deal with it. Or are there not good agreements with the general practitioner or -“, says the president Jacqueline de Groot.

“It affects the quality of life of residents,” she says. According to Verenso, it is too easy to create such a retirement home in the Netherlands. “There are too few tests in advance and there is no legal framework for the parties to adhere to,” says De Groot.

‘The system is not working’

Linda’s parents no longer live in the private facility. Her father is deceased and her mother lives in a closed room in an ordinary nursing home. “Given the situation, it was the only and best place and we were able to provide this care to the three of us,” recalls their daughter.

“But that’s not fair,” she said. “The system is not good. The money is made by investors on the backs of our parents, staff and the taxpayer. This cannot be true.”