Trade unions CNV and FNV and Royal Dutch Transport, Healthcare Transport and Taxi today ask the OMT in a letter to allow relaxation in healthcare transport because the capacity limits have been reached. The social partners want more travelers in a vehicle and the transport protocol must be adapted for this.
According to the independent platform for passenger transport Magazine Passenger transport, the need is great for all parties. Society is reopening, increasing the demand for healthcare transport. Due to the limitations in the protocol, the demand can no longer be met. This is an undesirable situation because of the social importance of healthcare transport. Healthcare transport is an important link in the healthcare chain.
The current healthcare transport sector protocol (from 18 years) that the social partners drew up is based on the OMT advice from the beginning of this year. This includes, among other things, that not all seats in a vehicle may be used. This is based on the OMT advice on risk groups in healthcare transport, for which extra measures in transport were deemed necessary. Because carriers often do not know (due to privacy rules) whether a passenger belongs to the risk group, it has been decided to take the OMT advice as the basis for the entire healthcare transport and therefore for the sector protocol. The situation is now such that a large part of the people from the risk groups have been vaccinated against the corona virus and that the number of infections has fallen sharply. The situation is therefore fundamentally different from the situation at the beginning of this year, when the OMT advice was issued.
The central government has initiated various relaxations in recent weeks. For example, there are more possibilities to travel by public transport. In addition, the central government wants to take even more steps and make it more flexible. However, there is still no prospect of further relaxation in healthcare transport, and due to the seat restriction, this is leading to more and more problems for carriers and travelers. Because society is opening more and more, there is an increase in the demand for transport, for example because care is overtaken and patients come to the hospital by healthcare transport. Daytime transport, for example, is also increasing again. This demand growth is expected to continue.
Due to corona, there has now been a major shortage of vehicles and drivers. This, in combination with the lower capacity, leads to an untenable situation. In some parts of the country, it already leads to inability to meet demand at peak times of transport. Travelers in healthcare transport are affected as a result. Furthermore, acceptance among travelers and clients is slowly decreasing, now that many travelers from the risk groups have now been vaccinated.
The social partners therefore want to adjust the healthcare transport sector protocol as of 15 June in such a way that all seats in a vehicle can be used again. For the rest, the measures remain in force, such as the use of mouth caps by drivers and travelers and a health check before the ride. Unions and entrepreneurs therefore urgently appeal to the OMT to agree that all seats in a vehicle can again be used in healthcare transport. Only in this way can healthcare transporters perform their task within the healthcare chain without any problems and healthcare transport remains accessible to all its users.
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