International

'Save our hospitals'. This was the slogan used this week by patients, health care providers and local residents in the Lower House. Campaigners from Zutphen handed over a book to the MPs and Minister Kuipers, containing their heartfelt cries and stories about what the hospital nearby means to them. SP party chair Marijnissen led the action. Today the Lower House is debating hospital care and the public gallery will be crowded.

This nonsense must stop. Hospital care close by is incredibly important, but hospitals are being broken up in more and more places. We propose today to stop the further erosion of our care. No more closures of emergency rooms, obstetrics or other hospital care. Healthcare is not a market. Good hospital care is a basic facility.

A large map of the Netherlands showed where hospitals, or parts thereof, have been closed in recent years. Activists from Zutphen and Zoetermeer also added their hometowns, as their hospitals are currently being cut down. And as of yesterday, Sneek and Heerenveen are also on this infamous map. During the action, local residents and health care providers also took action in Sneek to keep their hospital.