# Minister Sterk says care providers are responsible for acting on alarm calls

> Minister Sterk of Long-term Care says care providers are responsible for acting on personal alarms, in answer to MPs' questions about an 83-year-old woman said to have been found dehydrated hours after two emergency calls.

Society · published 2026-10-27 09:42 · https://nlnow.nl/a/minister-says-alarm-calls-must-be-followed-up-quickly/

An emergency call from a care client "should be followed up quickly and adequately", Minister Sterk (Long-term Care, Youth and Sport) said in written answers to parliamentary questions received on 26 October 2026. She said she cannot assess whether that happened in the case MPs raised, that of an 83-year-old woman whom their questions describe as found dehydrated on the floor of a filthy home.

**Why it matters**

- For people receiving long-term care (Wlz) at home, care must be available nearby 24 hours a day.
- Care providers, not the ministry, are responsible for following up alarms, and agree with each client how that happens.
- Providers must inform a client or representative about an incident without delay.

The MPs' questions say the woman pressed her alarm button twice and that both calls were passed to home care. Under the quality and complaints law for care (Wkkgz), providers are responsible for follow-up, Sterk said. The health inspectorate IGJ checks in its supervision whether a provider has set up personal alarm systems properly, in line with the client's care needs.

Good nutrition and fluid intake are part of good care, Sterk said. Providers must notice problems and adjust care where needed, and the IGJ oversees this.

Sterk said she knows the family still had no clear picture of what happened around the two alarm calls four weeks after the hospital admission. Clients and their representatives have a right to information about an incident and its consequences, she said.

She also agreed that a regular contact person or authorised representative should be told in time of serious signals about safety or possible neglect of an older person living at home, as far as the law on medical treatment contracts (WGBO) allows.

> Everyone who needs care and support must receive it safely, with attention and dignity, especially when dementia makes it harder for someone to say what they need.
> — Minister Sterk

## Background

- **IGJ (Inspectie Gezondheidszorg en Jeugd)**: The health and youth care inspectorate is the Dutch government body that supervises healthcare and youth care providers. It checks whether providers meet the quality and safety rules in laws such as the Wkkgz, and it can take enforcement action when they do not. Its supervision is how the government monitors whether patients and young people in care receive safe, good-quality services.

From NLnow, news from the Netherlands in English. How stories are made: https://nlnow.nl/about/