The Flemish Care Inspectorate (in
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
: ''Zorginspectie'') is a part of the
Department of Welfare, Public Health and Family of the
Flemish Government
The Flemish Government ( nl, Vlaamse regering ) is the executive branch of the Flemish Community and the Flemish Region of Belgium. It consists of a government cabinet, headed by the Minister-President and accountable to the Flemish Parliament, a ...
. The Flemish Government is the
executive branch
The Executive, also referred as the Executive branch or Executive power, is the term commonly used to describe that part of government which enforces the law, and has overall responsibility for the governance of a State (polity), state.
In poli ...
of the
Flemish Community
The Flemish Community ( nl, Vlaamse Gemeenschap ; french: Communauté flamande ; german: Flämische Gemeinschaft ) is one of the three institutional communities of Belgium, established by the Belgian constitution and having legal responsibilitie ...
of
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
. In Belgium, the
Communities
A community is a Level of analysis, social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place (geography), place, Norm (social), norms, religion, values, Convention (norm), customs, or Identity (social science), identity. Communiti ...
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
Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wiktionary:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physical and menta ...
(such as
hospital
A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emerge ...
s) and financial matters. Together, they inspect all services and establishments in these domains that are
recognised,
license
A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit).
A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...
d or
subsidised by the department or any
agency
Agency may refer to:
Organizations
* Institution, governmental or others
** Advertising agency or marketing agency, a service business dedicated to creating, planning and handling advertising for its clients
** Employment agency, a business that ...
associated with it. The Care Inspectorate also inspects disabled people who receive a so-called ''personal assistance budget'' or financial compensation for
assistive tools.
Anno 2018, the Care Inspectorate has a staff of around 90 people, including about 70 inspectors.
In 2017, the Care Inspectorate conducted 4,678 inspections, about half of which were of child care services. Of these 4,678 inspections, 401 were conducted after a
complaint
In legal terminology, a complaint is any formal legal document that sets out the facts and legal reasons (see: cause of action) that the filing party or parties (the plaintiff(s)) believes are sufficient to support a claim against the party ...
was made with the Care Inspectorate.
History
The predecessor to the current Care Inspectorate was officially founded on 1 April 2006, when the inspection services of the
Flemish Child and Family Agency, the Flemish Agency for Persons with Disabilities, the Flemish Family and Social Welfare Administration, and the Flemish Health Care Administration were merged. The merger took place during the then-ongoing reorganisation of the Flemish administration. The newly found inspection service was given the status of an ''internally autonomous agency''. A few years later, the agency was renamed as the "Care Inspectorate".
Under the
Bourgeois Government
The Bourgeois Government (''Regering-Bourgeois'') was the Flemish Government formed following the 2014 Flemish Parliament election. The cabinet consisted of a centre-right coalition of the nationalist New Flemish Alliance (N-VA), the Christian D ...
, which assumed office in 2014, the Care Inspectorate was merged with the Department of Welfare, Public Health and Family. As of 1 January 2015, the Care Inspectorate consists of two divisions of the department.
Inspection reports
Under local
open records laws, anyone has a right to access the inspection reports made by the Care Inspectorate without having to give a reason. This is referred to as ''passive openness''. In some cases, however, the Care Inspectorate can withhold (a part of) an inspection report from the public, for example when the report is not finished yet, or in order to protect the
privacy
Privacy (, ) is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves, and thereby express themselves selectively.
The domain of privacy partially overlaps with security, which can include the concepts of a ...
of individuals. Since 2015, the Care Inspectorate also exercises what is referred to as ''active openness''. This means the Care Inspectorate actively works to make its reports public on its website. Aside from inspection reports, the public can also consult the results of
quality assessments of hospitals that participate in the so-called ''Flemish Indicator Project for Patients and Professionals'' (shortened to VIP² in Dutch) on a separate website. These quality assessments are about
breast cancer treatment
Breast cancer management takes different approaches depending on physical and biological characteristics of the disease, as well as the age, over-all health and personal preferences of the patient. Treatment types can be classified into local ther ...
or
patient experience The patient experience describes an individual's experience of illness/injury and how healthcare treats them. Increasing focus on patient experience is part of a move towards patient-centered care. It is often operationalised through metrics, a tren ...
s, for example.
See also
*
Dutch Health Care Inspectorate
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. ...
*
Healthcare in Belgium
Healthcare in Belgium is composed of three parts. Firstly there is a primarily publicly funded healthcare and social security service run by the federal government, which organises and regulates healthcare; independent private/public practition ...
External links
Inspection reports on the department's website(in Dutch)
Quality assessments of hospitals(in Dutch)
References
{{reflist
Flemish government departments and agencies
Medical and health organisations based in Belgium