New health-care plan approved by Brussels parliament

The government of the Brussels-Capital Region has approved a new health-care plan that will see the most vulnerable people in the capital getting better access to medical care. The plan has been under development for three years, following additional authority for health care being transferred to the regions in the sixth state reform.

The plan, which will cost €8 million this year to set up, includes 17 goals to be reached through 45 different measures. All the goals are based on three fundamental needs: an accessible and coherent health-care process, to minimise inequality of access to health care and to improve the quality of health-care policies.

One of the most interesting parts of the new legislative package is that any new policy or legislation under consideration by parliament must first undergo a study on its impact on the health of Brussels residents.

There will also be an increased budget for intermediary health care, meaning health-care workers or others going in search of people – such as the homeless or migrants – who are not accessing health-care services themselves.

The plan also contains measures to ensure that all pregnant women are under a doctor’s care, which is not always the case now. It will also focus more on follow-up care for new mums and their babies.

Measures are also being taken for better follow-up care in general, particularly by hospitals. This should eliminate hospitals treating and releasing patients without their primary physician knowing about it.

And all preventative health-care organisations and activities will be brought together in one structure in order to facilitate public health screenings and other campaigns.

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