Quality systems in Dutch health care institutions.

Priority Setting on the Path to UHC: Time for Stronger Institutions and Stronger Health Systems: Response to Recent Commentaries

To what degree is the governance of Dutch hospitals orientated towards quality in care? Does this really affect performance?

INTRODUCTION Changing health care systems and market competition requires hospital boards to shift their focus towards a systematic governance of the quality of care. The objective of our study was to describe hospital governance and the quality orientation in the Netherlands. Also we wished to investigate the relationship with hospital performance. MATERIALS AND METHODS The chairs of both th...

Quality assurance in dentistry: the Dutch approach.

PURPOSE To describe the definition of quality, as used in the Dutch literature, and to discuss the policy concerning quality assurance of dental care of both the Dutch government and the Dutch Dental Association. DATA SOURCE Study of relevant literature. RESULTS Quality is described as the degree to which the entire set of characteristics of a product, process or service satisfies establish...

Why and How Is Compassion Necessary to Provide Good Quality Healthcare?

Recent disclosures of failures of care in the National Health Service (NHS) in England have led to debates about compassion deficits disallowing health professionals to provide high quality responsive care. While the link between high quality care and compassion is often taken for granted, it is less obvious how compassion – often originating in the individual’s emotional response – can become ...

Developing standards for institutional ethics committees: lessons from The Netherlands.

This article presents standards for setting up and educating institutional ethics committees (IECs). These standards are based on experiences in the Netherlands, where IECs have been established in a large number of health care institutions. Though the IEC has become a generally accepted institution within Dutch health care, there are concerns over its effectiveness regarding the improving of t...