WILLEMSTAD – Member of Parliament for the ruling party MFK Ramon Yung believes that immediate action should be taken to ensure continuity, quality, effectiveness, and safety in care. This is the conclusion he reached after attending press conferences by the CMC (Curaçao Medical Center) management, the CBV union, Health Minister Mr. Javier Silvania, health inspector Prof. Sirvin Kelie, and after personally listening to the concerns of CMC employees.
Yung notes that the CMC has been continuously in negative publicity due to its precarious financial situation over the past year. The NZa (Dutch Care Authority) report also suggests that concrete actions need to be taken to reduce costs at the institution. The CFT (Committee for Financial Supervision) has also indicated in a letter that both the CMC management and the government are responsible for taking concrete actions to improve the institution's financial situation.
In the report by the NZa, it was mentioned that the institute's debts exceed its income, indicating a "technical bankruptcy." Last year, the government established a "regiegroep" (restructuring group) to work with CMC on implementing measures to reduce expenses. However, CMC employees are facing intolerable working conditions. Care workers complain about the lack of protocols that describe, among other things, the procedures that need to be applied when providing care. Meanwhile, the CMC management has indicated that they need to work on the accreditation of CMC to ensure continuity, quality, efficiency, and safety of care.
The CMC management has stated that they need to obtain JCI accreditation to comply with the licensing requirements for CMC's operations. However, it has been shown that CMC is facing a lot of resistance and has even mentioned possible "manipulation." To obtain accreditation, they need to meet 1,200 elements, including capacity and staff guidance.
Information provided by MP Ramón Yung on accreditation indicates that studies show that a small hospital with less than 400 beds invests an average of 4,275 euros per recognized bed.
Furthermore, studies indicate that accreditation costs a lot of money and there is no empirical evidence that accreditation improves the quality and effectiveness of care. The reason for this is that there are so many elements that are part of accreditation, which makes it a complicated matter that is difficult to scientifically test. However, it is possible to see a correlation between accreditation and, for example, fewer cases of patients returning to the hospital within a certain number of days, as well as fewer errors in procedures and fewer staff leaving the institution.
Therefore, according to Member of Parliament Ramón Yung, accreditation should not be a goal, but rather should serve as an instrument to achieve and guarantee the quality of processes and safety in care. It is the task of Inspection to control and ensure that CMC maintains its quality, safety, accessibility of services, and continuity for the community.
Studies also indicate that most hospitals take between 5 to 7 years to achieve accreditation. Meanwhile, there is a large number that has chosen NIAZ accreditation instead of JCI accreditation, as the latter is more expensive. NIAZ accreditation is a Dutch accreditation model, which can be adjusted according to the needs of the entity and the process it is going through.
Member of Parliament for the MFK faction, Ramón Yung, believes that it is the task of Inspection in the care sector to control the quality and safety of care, in order to guarantee that the quality and safety of care are at an adequate level for the community.