d. GOOD QUALITY?
First an international comparison is given of the health of the Dutch population. The measures used are: life expectancy, infant mortality, and the prevalence of two diseases.
It may be concluded that the Netherlands are among the countries with a favourable health status. Cancer, however, still poses a problem to the Dutch society, especially lung cancer and breast cancer.
Government laws and programmes
In the last few years specific measures have been taken to resolve and improve the quality of health care. The government has brought some laws into force that aim for a better quality of care. The definition of quality of care consists of three elements' effectiveness, efficiency and client-centeredness. This definition is used as a basis for several laws, three of which are discussed here.
The first one is the 'Law on the Professions in Individual Health Care '. The aim of this law is to influence the quality of the practice of individual professionals. An important feature is that the patient can choose which professional he wants to be treated by. The second law is the 'Quality Law for Institutions ', which was enforced last year. This law says that institutions have to make plans to resolve and enhance their quality in a systematic way, for instance by asking patients what they think of the quality. The results of these plans and activities have to be put down in an annual report. The third law is the 'Law on the Agreement of Treatments ', regulating the rights of patients, especially the right to be informed and the right to agree or disagree on a treatment. It also takes care of matters as privacy of patients, the rights of minors and of patients who cannot decide for themselves.
