In an interview with the NRC, former Health Minister Ernst Kuipers lashed out at the directors of the children's heart centers, who were able to reverse his decision to centralize this specialist care. According to him, they are only interested in their own money and status and not in the patients. They should be "ashamed of themselves", he told the newspaper.
If outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte is appointed Secretary General of NATO before there is a new Cabinet, Rutte can remain Prime Minister. The position as supreme head of NATO is "not necessarily incompatible" with the office of prime minister, but in practice it is undesirable, said Bert van den Braak, specialist professor of parliamentary history and parliamentary system. "I cannot imagine that this will happen," he claimed.
The announced departure of outgoing Health Minister Ernst Kuipers has not gone down well everywhere in the healthcare sector. Some organizations are concerned that positive developments will come to a standstill, while others mainly praise Kuipers for his efforts and skills.
Health Minister Ernst Kuipers resigned with immediate effect from the caretaker Cabinet, the Dutch government's communication office announced on Wednesday. His resignation was accepted with honor by King Willem-Alexander. "This brings an end to my fulfilling this honorable office after two years and an intensive and much appreciated collaboration with many. The reason why I am now tendering my resignation is that I am going to take up a position abroad that is linked to a certain starting period," Kuipers wrote in a letter he shared on social media.
The court in Arnhem will handle an appeal case on Tuesday afternoon for the reimbursement of treatments for 11-year-old boy Gueko from Winschoten. He has been suffering from Acute Flaccid Myelitis (AFM) since 2016, a paralyzing disease that has made him completely dependent on a wheelchair and a ventilator.