In healthcare, the second disaster is now unfolding

In addition, surgical capacity had been scaled down by 42% and the number of referrals is at 74% of the expected number of referrals without the presence of the corona crisis.

These are the latest figures compiled by the Dutch Healthcare Authority NZa in the 'Care picture portal'. Add to this the record absenteeism in the care and welfare sector and the cries of distress in the media from healthcare institutions where staff cannot even take a vacation.

So the second crisis, after Covid-19 overwhelmed care providers, is in the making: when the pressure from Covid victims finally subsides, the 'heroes of care' will be so fatigued that they will have great difficulty providing the catch-up care that is needed. We can already be glad they don't drop out as yet.

Slow development
We currently have only one way out: vaccinate quickly and sufficiently and hope that resistant mutations will stay out. However, looking through this crisis, Covid-19 here seems to be 'just' a showcase of a slower unfolding development: the healthcare supply can no longer meet the demand with an ageing population.

But for now, it is therefore about 'the disaster after the disaster' as healthcare parties are now also calling it. By this, they refer to the period in which the reservoir of referrals, treatments and operations must be cleared and will demand the utmost from healthcare professionals for even longer. Procrastination care: an abomination for both patients and healthcare professionals.

It is, properly speaking, a miracle that acute care (care that is medically necessary within one week) does go on, but it does not diminish the haggling over the workload of planable care. Anyone who knows healthcare professionals in their own family circle hears the experiences of the past year piling up and the constant resounding: 'it can't actually be done, but we do it'.

Pride
A recent moving example: the post on LinkedIn from an ICU nurse about how she helped fulfill the last wish of her 57-year-old patient. Getting married to his partner - in the middle of the night with an officiant, streamers, and champagne. The pride was evident.

Fulfilment
So, the challenge is to continue standing by healthcare professionals and employers, to support them in carrying out the profession they have chosen: caring for others in vulnerable positions. As a society, we want nothing more than to leave the past year and a half behind and resume our old lives. But even then, healthcare professionals must persevere, because you don't abandon people.

Duty
As an organization rooted in healthcare and welfare, we feel obligated to support this professional group in carrying out their important societal task. This goes beyond providing a major secondary employment benefit in the form of a good pension. With labor market data aggregated from pension administration, we can assist the sector with long-term labor market issues. We need to devise solutions for structural labor shortages and also pay attention to prevention. This requires research, and we're committed to that as well: Aggression in healthcare - the report we recently helped produce - offers various points of intervention to support healthcare providers.

Our pension domain demands that our DNA primarily seeks to provide long-term perspectives, backed by facts and data. We also employ this approach in helping alleviate the disaster after the disaster.