Hundreds of healthcare workers in the Netherlands report colleagues using falsified credentials to care for vulnerable patients, raising serious concerns about neglect and potential criminal activity, according to an investigation by RTL Nieuws. Workers described witnessing unqualified staff, often temporary or independent contractors filling staffing gaps, resorting to online videos to learn basic medical procedures like inserting catheters.The investigation found that these incidents frequently occur during night shifts when staffing is stretched thin. Permanent staff members told RTL Nieuws that some temporary workers appeared more focused on earning quick money than providing proper patient care. Trade unions representing healthcare workers are demanding urgent action from employers to verify credentials and prevent unqualified individuals from accessing patients.
The ongoing labor shortage means freelance healthcare workers and independent contractors can clear up to 12,000 euros per month when working at various facilities without regard to their own well-being. They take double shifts, work with a short turnaround from overnight hours to daytime hours, and sometimes stay on for seven straight days with consequences like missing pages and falling asleep on the job.
In November, police told RTL Nieuws that the sky-high wage has caused an “alarming” increase in fraud among healthcare workers. That led to the survey of over 2,800 people, which was conducted with help from the FNV and NU’91 labor unions.
Some 643 employees said they were certain colleagues were working with false credentials, and 607 more said that was a high probability. The survey conducted by RTL Nieuws found that 17 percent know one of their colleagues has a falsified diploma, and another 19 percent suspect that to be the case.
“When inserting a catheter, the patient was in a lot of pain, I just saw blood from below,” said a nursing home healthcare worker about one worker who was found to be lacking in professional training.
About 10 percent know a colleague who has a job without the required listing in the BIG registry, while 16 percent suspect this possibility. About 9 percent know a colleague without the required good conduct certification from their background check, while an additional 18 percent believe this to be true.
“The higher-ups said that a manager left because he committed fraud. On LinkedIn, I saw that he simply works at another institution,” said one person who works with people with physical disabilities.
“Dangerous situations arise because of untrained staff,” said another worker providing care for people with disabilities. “A resident took a knife from the kitchen and wanted to stab another.”
“The numbers are alarmingly high and these are really the most vulnerable patients and clients,” concluded NU'91 chair Femke Merel van Kooten. “Clients who come into contact with these people cannot always defend themselves or say, ‘Hey, something is wrong.’”
One colleague spoke of a freelancer who locked the lower portion of a hoist in a position that was too high. “The client would then fall. I said, ‘What are you doing?’ That’s the first thing you learn.”
FNV union leader Saida Youssef could not comprehend why employers might not sufficiently screen their workers. “It is simply terrible that this is happening under our noses in 2024 and that we actually have no control over it,” she said late last year to the news outlet. It is not only dangerous for clients, but also for employees, she asserted. “You put them in very unpleasant situations.”
Albania bans TikTok for ‘perversity’
Critics have accused the Albanian government of political censorship
Albania is about to enact a year-long ban on TikTok in the name of protecting children and teens. However, critics of Prime Minister Edi Rama claim his real aim is to silence the political opposition ahead of an election in May, according to Reuters.
Rama announced the ban in late December, after what he said were weeks of consultations with parents and teachers. He said the decision was motivated by the fatal stabbing of a 14-year-old boy in November over a social media dispute. TikTok has objected, pointing out that neither the victim nor the attacker had used the platform.
“This creates a dangerous precedent that at any moment governments can close different platforms,” Orkidea Xhaferaj of SciDEV told Reuters, a Tirana-based think tank funded by George Soros’ Open Society Foundation and a variety of Western governments.
“He wants to close our mouth,” Arlind Qori, leader of the political party Bashke (Together), told the agency, describing TikTok as a powerful communication tool of the opposition.
The leaders of Albania’s two largest opposition parties, Sali Berisha (Democratic Party) and Ilir Meta (Freedom Party) have been charged with corruption. They have decried the charges as politically motivated.
Businessman Ergus Katiaj also lamented the upcoming ban, saying it will deprive him of free advertising that adds around $1,000 to his monthly profits. Katiaj posts on TikTok every evening, reminding customers in Tirana that his shop delivers alcohol, cigarettes and snacks all night.
Rama’s government said the ban would go into effect “in early 2025,” but TikTok remains online as of Thursday.
“The ban on TikTok for one year in Albania is not a rushed reaction to a single incident, but a carefully considered decision made in consultation with parent communities in schools across the country,” the prime minister said in December.
After 1,300 such meetings, 90% of educators and parents supported the TikTok ban, the government told AP.
They had 1300 meetings in a matter of weeks? Wow! How did educators have time to educate?
“Inside China’s TikTok, you don't see hooliganism, perversity, violence, bullying, crime,” Rama said in last month’s speech announcing the ban, referring to the platform Douyin. “Why do we need this?”
Both TikTok and its Chinese counterpart Douyin were developed by ByteDance, a company incorporated in the Cayman Islands.
The Chinese origin of the video-sharing platform has placed it in the crosshairs of many governments in the West. The US passed a law last year requiring ByteDance to sell TikTok in the name of national security, with a January 19 deadline.
Romania annulled its presidential elections in November after intelligence agencies claimed “Russian influence” was behind a TikTok campaign supporting independent candidate Calin Georgescu. The decision was not reversed even after it emerged that the campaign had been manipulated by the pro-Western National Liberal Party instead.
This is obviously a political gimmick. It would be great if it somehow reduces online child sexual abuse, but it is doubtful that it will have much effect.
