“Try to see as many mental health care patients as possible face to face again” Inland

The corona crisis is hitting people with mental health problems, according to research by the Trimbos Institute, among others. Not only do they often have more complaints, but they also feel that the assistance is inadequate. They say they receive less help and guidance and miss face-to-face contact with healthcare providers.

Blokhuis thinks “it can and should be better to quickly provide clients with the help they need again.” He points out that the corona rules drawn up by the mental health care itself offer scope for group treatment and face to face. That has been happening for the past two weeks, he says. Some patients do well with video calling, the state secretary acknowledges. But some find it difficult or undesirable.

Care avoidants

While hospitals are slowly starting ordinary care, a large group of patients still avoid care. They do not call their GP or 112, even if they have complaints that may indicate something serious. According to the Federation of Medical Specialists, patients are afraid of contracting the new coronavirus in the hospital, or putting unnecessary burden on care, Trouw writes.

The specialists fear that the damage to health is great. It was reason for them to come up with an information video this week.

In at least one case, a patient died of a heart attack, after daring to call 112 for fear of corona infection, says Anke Vervoord, director of the Harteraad, an organization for heart patients. According to the Dutch Association of Cardiology, the number of patients who report to a doctor with acute heart complaints is 25 percent lower than normal. In early April that was even 50 percent. Because of those percentages, Vervoord calls it “plausible” that more fatalities have occurred.

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