Non-urgent procedures such as hip or knee replacement and cosmetic treatments in clinics are postponed. As of today, the clinics participate in the distribution and distribution of medical aids and devices for regular healthcare.
This means that independent treatment centers can be asked to deploy personnel, personal protective equipment and equipment for the reception and treatment of corona patients in hospitals. Hospitals have also suspended non-urgent and planned operations.
The distribution of medical devices, which are essential to healthcare but are limited or not available, is organized within one central point in the region. There, general practitioners and hospitals can make use of extra supplies such as mouth masks and other materials.
Immediate necessity
These regional acute care networks (ROAZ) have a better overview of where there are shortages and where extra material is most needed. There are eleven ROAZ networks in the Netherlands.
Spokesman Herman Nieuwenhuis of Independent Clinics Netherlands (ZKN) says that its members feel a shared responsibility to get through the corona crisis. “The entire healthcare sector must prioritize and our clinics are very willing to do so.”
Operations and interventions whose suspension does not lead to medical risks are postponed. In case of acute necessity, interventions will continue. “We emphasize that keeping clinics partially open is of great importance for the continuity of patient care outside of corona,” says Nieuwenhuis.
“The first line plays an important role in this. GPs must be able to continue referring for this care. And after the crisis, backlogs in planned care must be made up for quickly.”
Tomorrow the board of ZKN will decide on additional measures with which the clinics can further shape their contribution to the fight against corona.
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