Long covid centres get no budget for next year
Patients and doctors told MPs they are alarmed that health minister Sophie Hermans has set no money aside for the six long covid centres at university hospitals.
Health minister Sophie Hermans has said she has not set aside money in next year's budget for the six long covid expertise centres at Dutch university hospitals (UMCs). The cabinet gave the centres €27m for two years in 2024 to get them started.
An estimated 450,000 people in the Netherlands have long covid. About 1,000 a year are examined and treated at the centres.
Patients and doctors spoke with members of the Tweede Kamer at a round-table discussion on Monday. Insurers only pay for care that is proven to work, he said, so structural funding is lacking.
Researchers are already leaving over the uncertainty. "It makes no sense to start a study if you don't know whether you can finish it," Lafeber said.
The Health Council (Gezondheidsraad) has earlier called for lasting funding for the centres.
Hermans wants to leave responsibility for care largely with GPs. Four national GP associations wrote to the minister that phasing out the current structures will increase pressure on GP care and leave these patients without suitable care.
Hermans wants to cut the funding from the original €27m to €1m a year. Doctors from the centres say that is not enough for their core tasks: doing research, teaching care providers and supporting other doctors in complex cases.
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Tweede Kamer
The House of Representatives, the lower and more powerful house of the Dutch parliament. Its 150 members are elected directly; it can amend bills and holds the cabinet to account.
UMC (universitair medisch centrum)
A UMC is a university medical centre: a university hospital that combines patient care, medical research and the training of doctors and other health professionals. The Netherlands has eight UMCs, each linked to a university, and they provide the most specialised and complex care in the country, including highly specialised centres for rare or hard-to-treat conditions.
Gezondheidsraad
The Gezondheidsraad is the independent scientific advisory body that advises the Dutch government and parliament on health and healthcare questions. Its advice is published and informs decisions on public health, medical care and the use of medicines and medical technology.