a discharge every two weeks

• Jorien Leendertse

  editor Domestic

From 2021 to 2023, 95 healthcare workers were fired for taking medications from the pantry. This is evident from figures from the Healthcare and Youth Inspectorate.

This happened most often in hospitals. This was the reason for dismissal in 50 percent of all hospital discharges. In nursing homes and home care, this applied to 15 percent of all dismissals.

The reports about this during the inspection often concern the taking of benzodiazepines. These are highly addictive medications that are prescribed for sleep problems or panic attacks. Painkillers such as tramadol or opiates such as morphine or oxycodone are also taken.

The inspectorate does not want to say whether this is the tip of the iceberg. “We think there are more. Many healthcare staff think it is common to use medicines and the healthcare provider often does not realize it,” says Janet Helder, chief inspector of the Healthcare and Youth Inspectorate.

It is not clear how many cases involve taking a one-time tablet or stealing it for long-term use. However, these funds have occasionally been stolen for trading purposes. Hospitals often make no distinction; in almost all cases, the employee who is caught is fired.

Excessive work pressure, rotating shifts and night shifts are mentioned by the dismissed employees as reasons for the theft, as are problems in their private lives. “Colleagues don’t want to burden each other with extra work. If they don’t feel well, they are more likely to take medication from the department,” says Helder. This lowers the threshold for addiction.

According to the inspection, there is too little supervision and drivers also know too little about who can access the medicine cabinet. Healthcare institutions sometimes have different software and not every software keeps the registration of medication properly. “Know where your meds are going.”

The inspectorate also advocates more involvement of managers. Healthcare providers are not always aware of how often their staff takes medication. This is only noticed when large numbers of benzodiazepines or opiates are used. Healthcare staff often do not know that it is prohibited to take medication for their own use.

“We receive a few reports per year from some hospitals, but other hospitals report nothing,” the inspectorate says. “Hospital administrators often decide for themselves whether they do not want to report it, despite a reporting obligation. Each hospital has its own view on how to deal with taking medicines with you. Some hospitals do not tolerate this and install cameras. Other hospitals do not think so. ethical to film their staff,” says the inspectorate.

Ron Nieuwendijk of the private research agency Hoffman sees an increase in healthcare staff taking medicine with them. His agency is regularly called in to investigate the disappearance of large numbers of medicines. “Three years ago, one in five cases involved taking medication, now that is one in three. These types of incidents have a major impact on the sense of safety of residents and patients, but also for colleagues of healthcare workers.”

The inspectorate advocates a smaller medicine stock, so that it is more manageable, or for limiting access to the medicine cabinet. But above all, the inspectorate advocates a cultural change: “Make it a topic of discussion if you don’t feel well and talk to employees, instead of dismissing them.” This is desperately needed because of the staff shortage.