Dutch-language healthcare in Brussels today is not accessible. Many GP practices have patient stops, people must often wait for months for an appointment with a dentist or a psychologist, and doctor's fees are often too expensive. In healthcare services in Brussels, Dutch-language services are also not guaranteed. At the emergency rooms of several Brussels hospitals, for instance, you have to make an effort to be helped in Dutch.
The Brussels healthcare landscape is far too complex. No fewer than six governments are responsible for well-being and healthcare in Brussels. Hospitals, for instance, are a federal matter, but residential care centres a Flemish competence. Too many people are in charge, leaving no one accountable. The result is that to obtain adequate Dutch-language care in Brussels you have to wade through a whole jumble of regulations and institutions. This is not acceptable. There is a need for change so that everyone in Brussels has easy access to appropriate care.
What does Vooruit.Brussels propose?
- We provide affordable heathcare: Thanks to Vooruit, everyone can go to the GP for 4 euros, children and young people can go to the dentist for free and you can see a psychologist for 11 euros. We are phasing out fee supplements and we are providing more and better reimbursements. Frank also saw to it that the maximum bill was extended to the most vulnerable families. Specifically, this means that low-income families will never pay more than 250 euros a year for their care. The trend towards affordable care has started, but the work is not yet finished.
- We ensure fewer waiting lists: Vooruit invested 1 billion in care professionals to improve both pay and working conditions in order to make healthcare jobs more attractive. We are also doing this by deploying Care Ambassadors. We expand mental health centres and provide more places in psychiatry.
- We provide care close to people: We strengthen primary care through multidisciplinary centres with GPs, nurses, psychologists and more. We deploy mobile crisis teams to administer care to people on the street. We provide physical counters of welfare services like the CPAS and CAWs that are open long enough so that people who work are also able to go there without an appointment.
- We provide the guarantee of Dutch language service: Hospitals are required to draw up new and modern language policy plans that go beyond simply offering language classes. By building teams, bringing in liaison officers and using technology, better Dutch-language care can be offered. We require all emergency services to be bilingual. We preserve that Dutch-language service. We also make it possible for a patient in the ambulance to have the choice of being taken to a Dutch-speaking hospital.
- We provide fewer structures and more central governance: We simplify the structure of powers by giving the Brussels Region direction over welfare and health policy, with budgetary restraints, in order to guarantee the provision of care for Dutch-speaking people in Brussels.