Speech by state secretary Martin van Rijn at the conference Our Future Health

Toespraak | 26-05-2016

Ladies and gentlemen,

In the course of the past two days you have been discussing the future of healthcare with emphasis on the influence of technology. And often you must have thought: … it's amazing! This will really change healthcare fundamentally! And you were probably right.

Normally when I give a speech, people expect answers. But this time, I'm the one expecting the answers. From you. Because hey, this seems like a room full of smart people to me.

For a politician technology is a difficult thing. When Steve Jobs said: 'one more thing' - it never was just a thing. This thing changed the world. In this age of technology it often seems as if things change the world more than politicians can do.

These things influence every part of our daily life. Like the minister said in her speech at the beginning of this congress: with a simple app on her cellphone she is able to scan any product on gluten – a great example of a small innovation, with a huge impact on her life and that of millions of others.

Integrating technology in healthcare therefore is an autonomous development. Our generation is used to tablets and smartphones and computers. We take them for granted.

And that won't change when we get older. Nobody has to teach us how to skype with our grandchildren, order groceries on the Internet of use our tablet to communicate with our doctor or nurse practitioner.

Right now in 2016 I see that however self-evident smartphones and tablets and smart watches are, e-health is not. At least not in daily healthcare. So many inventions, so many new things – and we don't use them.

That's why I am very glad you are here together now. A meeting like this can help me to scale up e-health in our country. We're always talking about 'in the future this' and 'in the future that'. But the future is now, we need e-health now.

Especially in my field, the care for the elderly and chronically ill, there is still so much we can do. Maybe it's all less spectacular than the ICT used in operation rooms. This is about smart small things.

But, smart things can be a big help: how can we make life easier for the elderly?

The policy of our government is: let elderly people – if they want - live in their own familiar house as long as possible, without feeling the need to move to a retirement home. Let them keep control over their own lives. Decide how they want to spend their days, how they want to live. And technology can be of help to achieve this goal.

During the three years that I have been state secretary I have seen many beautiful examples.

- Elderly people staying in contact with medical and social advisors via the screen of their tv or tablet
- Sensors that prevent people from falling out of bed.
- Small robots that can give a hand in small every day-tasks and in keeping fit, both fysically and mentally.

Already many elderly and disabled people use these kinds of technology. I once visited the so-called 'paswoningen' in Arnhem, on the location of the famous 'Het Dorp'. I spoke to a resident who could not move any part of his body, and he told me: 'Thanks to new technology I can put on the TV when I want to. I can close the curtains when I want to, dim the lights if I feel like it. I’m not dependent anymore from someone who asks to what tv progam I like to watch this evening. And that is a great feeling'.
 

Living with dignity – that's our motto in taking care of the elderly and disabled. Technology helps to realize it. On my way back to The Hague I thought to myself, this is the way to go. do it. A lot of these applications would be interesting for any house, not just for the houses of disabled people .

We should be aware that this is not an easy task. The road to this new way of living is bumpy and we all have to learn to ride it.

Professionals fear loss of control. They have to learn to let go.

One more example: in a home for elderly people with dementia they use an ICT system that ensures that residents are not faced with locked doors and can still go out for a walk. Despite their advanced dementia. Thanks to the GPS transmitter embedded in a bracelet every resident wears, the staff always know where they are.

If a resident wanders off too far, the staff can alert volunteers living in the neighbourhood. A volunteer goes out to meet the person with dementia and puts him or her at ease. They might even have a cup of coffee together. A staff member then accompanies the resident back to the home. It works fine, but the medical staff needed some time to trust it. To let go.

Elderly people are sometimes afraid that they will be left alone with robots and tv screens – and that there will be nobody there to touch or hug them.

Families have to learn to hand over practical things to others – and replace these tasks by loving care. Don't think: my father is perfectly OK now: the groceries are provided by the mobile supermarket, the washing and cleaning is done by cleaning ladies and the food is delivered. But that will never be enough. Robotica will always be an extra. A way for people to spend more time doing things that really matter: talking, spending time together, go for a walk or a ride.

Let's always remember: technology is about things, life is about people. About paying attention, about love. Robotica perhaps can replace handwork, it can never replace love and personal attention.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The attention the Dutch government pays to the future of health certainly doesn't stop today.

During the first days of June the Dutch Presidency of the European Union will organize the E health-week and one of the central themes will be patient empowerment. Many things I have heard here today I will take with me to this conference. There will be a special track on social innovation & transition, where we'll pay attention to the changes needed in organization and finance to scale up eHealth.

We'll especially pay attention to the human factor in eHealth.

To how we can get families and friends and neighbours involved, and how we can improve the education of medical professionals and the position of family care givers.

On Tuesday June 7 we'll organize the startup2scaleup day where innovative small and medium firms and financial partners will be supported to realize their ambitions in the field of health, of caring and supporting.

Both the minister of Health and I support this startup2scaleup day wholeheartedly, among other things by offering a special network.

And as to our own plans for the coming years, we promised the Dutch people that:

-   Within five years, we want 80 percent of chronically ill patients to have access to their medical records.

-   We want self-testing to be available to 75 percent of chronically ill patients and vulnerable elderly people.

-   And we want everyone who receives care or assistance at home to have access to online care and consultations.

These goals are realistic and ambitious at the same time. Realistic, because it is technically possible.

Ambitious, because they have an enormous effect on how healthcare organizations will change in the light of these developments. Later this year we'll be able to inform you on the progress that has been made in achieving these goals. I hope you will all share the experiences of today with people in your own country. That is how we’ll keep working towards our shared goal: giving everybody who needs the best care possible.