November 25, 2020

Florien Kruse, Lisa van Tol, Cilla Vrinzen, Oemar van der Woerd,  Patrick Jeurissen

The full report is available here: COVID-19-Long-Term-Care-situation-in-the-Netherlands-_-the-second-wave-25-November-2020-1Download

Key points:

• The Dutch nursing home sector was severely affected by the first coronavirus wave. Although the sector was better prepared for a new outbreak, the second wave has still hit hard. Where in the first wave there was a steep increase in cases and then a rapid decline, in the second wave the number of cases in the long-term care sector has plateaued and it is unclear how long this will continue before cases start falling.
• Protocols, personal protective equipment (PPE) and testing are more accessible than in the first wave.
• The government has not imposed a national nursing home visiting ban, unlike in the first wave. Instead, the government has decided to take a more flexible and regional approach. Nursing homes are given discretionary space to make visiting policies appropriate to their situation.
• Staff shortages, working pressure and staff wellbeing are still a great concern. However, unlike in the first wave, various policies aim to tackle this.
• In the Netherlands, nursing home residents are represented by client councils. However, nursing homes have not consistently included client councils in crisis management.