The Health and Youth Care Inspectorate (Dutch: Inspectie Gezondheidszorg en Jeugd, IGJ) is a governmental institution that supervises public health in the Netherlands. It is part of the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, located in Utrecht. The IGJ supervises the quality, safety and accessibility of health care, and guards the rights of patients. [1] The current Inspector-General is dr. Ronnie van Diemen-Steenvoorde.
At the time of the Dutch Republic (1581–1795), public health and health care were the domain of the provincial and urban authorities. From the establishment of the Batavian Republic in 1795 onwards, this responsibility was taken up by the national government. In the first half of the 19th century, governmental supervision of health care originated. [2]
In 1902, the Public Health Supervisory Service was set up by the Health Act, falling under the jurisdiction of the Central Health Council. In 1919, Supervisory Service was put under the administration of the government itself. [3]
In 1995, the Medical Inspection for Public Health, the Medical Inspection for Public Mental Health and the Inspection for Medicines were merged into the IGZ. The State, provincial and metropolitan inspectors, who were tasked with supervising retirement homes, were added to the IGZ in 1997. The four departments of this merged organisation were fully integrated into the IGZ in subsequent years to make it more effective. [2]
In 2018 the present-day IGJ was formed from a merger of the IGZ and the former Youth Care Inspectorate (Dutch: Inspectie Jeugdzorg, IJZ).
There are twelve provinces of the Netherlands, representing the administrative layer between the national government and the local municipalities, with responsibility for matters of subnational or regional importance.
Barend Willem Biesheuvel was a Dutch politician of the defunct Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP) now the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and jurist who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 6 July 1971 until 11 May 1973.
Willem Drees Sr. was a Dutch politician of the defunct Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP) and later co-founder of the Labour Party (PvdA) and historian who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 7 August 1948 to 22 December 1958.
As of January 2021, there are 352 municipalities plus 3 special municipalities in the Netherlands. The latter is the status of three of the six island territories that make up the Dutch Caribbean. Municipalities are the second-level administrative division, or public bodies, in the Netherlands and are subdivisions of their respective provinces. Their duties are delegated to them by the central government and they are ruled by a municipal council that is elected every four years. Municipal mergers have reduced the total number of municipalities by two-thirds since the first official boundaries were created in the mid 19th century. Municipalities themselves are informally subdivided into districts and neighbourhoods for administrative and statistical purposes.
The Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport is the Dutch Ministry responsible for public health, health care, quality of life, social work and sport. The Ministry was created in 1951 as the "Ministry of Social Affairs and Health" and had several name changes before it became the "Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport" in 1994. The Ministry is headed by the Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport, currently Hugo de Jonge (CDA), assisted by one State secretary, currently Paul Blokhuis (CU), and the Minister for Medical Care, currently Tamara van Ark (VVD).
The Ministry of Education, Culture and Science is the Dutch Ministry responsible for education, culture, science, research, gender equality and communications. The Ministry was created in 1918 as the Ministry of Education, Arts and Sciences and had several name changes before it became the Education, Culture and Science in 1994. The Ministry is headed by the Minister of Education, Culture and Science, currently Ingrid van Engelshoven.
VU University Medical Center Amsterdam is the university hospital affiliated with the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. It is rated as one of the best academic medical centers in the country in terms of patient care and research. It is located next to Amsterdam's A10 ringway in the southwestern part of the city, next to the campus of the Vrije Universiteit and close to Schiphol airport.
The Ministry of Finance is the Dutch Ministry responsible for economic policy, monetary policy, fiscal policy, tax policy, incomes policy, financial regulation, the government budget and the financial market. The Ministry was created in 1798 as the Department of Finance of the Batavian Republic. It became the Ministry of Finance in 1876. The Minister of Finance is the head of the Ministry and a member of the Cabinet of the Netherlands. The current Minister is Wopke Hoekstra.
The Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment is the Dutch ministry responsible for social affairs, relations between employers and employees, social security, trade unions and emancipation. It was established in 1918 as the Ministry of Labour and had several name changes before it became the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment in 1981. The ministry is headed by the Minister of Social Affairs and Employment, currently Wouter Koolmees of the Democrats 66 party.
Healthcare in the Netherlands can be divided in several ways: firstly in three different echelons; secondly in somatic versus mental healthcare; and thirdly in "cure" versus "care". Home doctors form the largest part of the first echelon. Being referred by a first echelon professional is frequently required for access to treatment by the second and third echelons, or at least to qualify for insurance coverage for that treatment. From 2012 to 2020, health care spending declined from 10.9 percent to 10.5 percent of GDP. Further costs savings could be realized by reducing the over-use of in-patient care, institutionalised psychiatric care and elderly care.
Heli Holland is a Dutch helicopter operator. Services provided include VIP transport, offshore transport, flight training, aerial photography, medical flights, freight transport and aerial inspection flights. It also performs helicopter maintenance and trading. Operating bases are Lelystad Airport, Amsterdam Heliport and a company owned heliport in Emmer Compascuum, which is also the location of the company's head office. It is the largest helicopter operator in the Netherlands.
The Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation is a Minister without portfolio and a member of the Cabinet and the Council of Ministers assigned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and is tasked with the portfolios of Trade and Export, Development Cooperation and International Environmental Policies. The current Minister is Sigrid Kaag of the Democrats 66 (D66) who has been in office since 26 October 2017.
The Caribbean Netherlands are the three special municipalities of the Netherlands that are located in the Caribbean Sea. They consist of the islands of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba, although the term "Caribbean Netherlands" is sometimes used to refer to all of the islands in the Dutch Caribbean. In legislation, the three islands are also known as Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba or the BES islands. The islands are currently classified as public bodies in the Netherlands and as overseas countries and territories of the European Union; thus, EU law does not automatically apply.
Johannes Gerardus Franciscus (Jan) Veldhuis is a Dutch administrator/governor in the fields of scientific education and research, healthcare and culture, nationally and internationally. His last post was president of Utrecht University, from 1986 until 2003. He still holds various part-time governance positions.
PostNL formerly TNT NV is a mail, parcel and e-commerce corporation with operations in the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Belgium, and the United Kingdom. It provides universal delivery in the Netherlands, and is publicly listed at Euronext Amsterdam. The company was known as TNT NV until TNT Express was separated from it in May 2011, and the remainder of the company was renamed PostNL.
Ernst Nicolaas Herman Jansen,, later known as Ernst Jansen Steur, is a former Dutch neurologist, who garnered notoriety for misconduct and lost his license to practice medicine.
The Health Council of the Netherlands or the Dutch Health Council is an independent Dutch scientific advisory body with the task of advising the government and parliament about matters in the areas of public health and medical research.
The Flemish Care Inspectorate is a part of the Department of Welfare, Public Health and Family of the Flemish Government. The Flemish Government is the executive branch of the Flemish Community of Belgium. In Belgium, the Communities are responsible for the inspection of health and welfare services and establishments. The Care Inspectorate consists of two complementary divisions of the department: one for the inspection of services for disabled people and child care services, and one for the inspection of welfare services, health services and financial matters. Together, they inspect all services and establishments in these domains that are recognised, licensed or subsidised by the department or any agency associated with it. The Care Inspectorate also inspects disabled people who receive a so-called personal assistance budget or financial compensation for assistive tools.
The COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands is part of the ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The virus was confirmed to have spread to the Netherlands on 27 February 2020, when its first COVID-19 case was confirmed in Tilburg. It involved a 56-year-old Dutchman who had arrived in the Netherlands from Italy, where the COVID-19 pandemic seemed to enter Europe. As of 31 January 2021, there are 978,475 confirmed cases of infections and 13,998 confirmed deaths. The first death occurred on 6 March, when an 86-year-old patient died in Rotterdam.
