Familiar faces remain with household help
The Municipal Executive has decided that MeanderGroep Zuid-Limburg and Ambulante Thuiszorg (ATZ) will remain the care providers for domestic help in Heerlen. The municipality and the care providers have been negotiating in recent weeks. They have reached an agreement and the work will continue after January 1.
Alderman Arlette Vrusch ( Health ): “With this new contract, we are putting the interests of residents and employees in the healthcare sector first. Residents will keep their trusted home help. This is often their support and confidant who has been part of their lives for years. The employees in home help also deserve this. They are committed to the Health in our city and do incredibly important work. I am proud of the Health that they provide and that is what we as a municipality stand for.”
The household help provides help to over 3700 households in Heerlen. It is special that a municipality puts the social interests first in this way. In a time of increasing staff shortages in the Health the municipality consciously chooses not to take any risks. We promise to protect the continuity for healthcare workers. The partnerships with other healthcare partners will also continue to exist. The municipality retains the legal task and this new contract with MeanderGroep Zuid-Limburg and ATZ is the most appropriate solution.
“What weighed most heavily on me was the uncertainty that tenders entail. Job insecurity for more than 660 care workers and the unknown for residents whether they will retain their trusted help. It is important to maintain these well-established care relationships. The home help provides more than just household help. They answer practical questions from residents or function as a confidant, have an important signaling function behind the front door and are part of an extensive care network in the city. That is why the board has chosen not to take any risks and to see whether a solution could be reached with the current providers. The contracts were signed today and that is a result to be proud of,” he continues. Alderman Vrush.
What do we mean by household help?
By domestic help we mean tasks such as vacuuming, cleaning, changing the bed or cleaning windows. This help falls under the Social Support Act (Wmo). With this law we try to let people live independently as long as possible. The responsibility and financing of household help lies with the municipality.
Photo: MeanderGroep Zuid-Limburg