Brussels hospitals sued for failing to help in Dutch

Flemish separatist group the Vlaamse Volksbeweging (Flemish People's Movement) has initiated seven legal proceedings against Brussels hospitals which they say are not complying with language legislation.

“Dutch-speaking patients cannot be treated in Dutch, which leads to tragic situations,” said VVB president Michael Discart.

VVB did not wish to disclose the names of the hospitals concerned while the proceedings are still ongoing, but the group recently visited several hospitals in the capital, including Delta (Chirec), Saint-Luc, UZ Brussel, Saint-Pierre and Erasmus, to check whether they were complying with language legislation and whether patients could therefore be treated in Dutch.

The VVB said it did not want to "put hospitals in the pillory" by naming them, but is calling for solutions.

“This has been going on for 50 years and the situation is only getting worse,” said Discart.

“A patient arrives at A&E, seven nurses rush to him, but none of them speaks Dutch. A woman on her deathbed wants to talk to her children, but the staff don't understand her. The stories we hear are all dramatic.”

The VVB cites UZ Brussel, Dutch-speaking VUB's university hospital, as a good example. Staff there wear coloured badges indicating the language they speak, and the hospital has adopted a language policy with a coach.

In addition to the seven legal proceedings, the VVB has also filed four complaints with the Permanent Commission for Language Control, which is responsible for the general control of the application of language laws in administrative matters in Belgium.

One of these complaints has already been deemed admissible and well-founded.