INTRODUCTION
In 2023, Dutch healthcare is characterised by a diversity of partnerships. The most recent development in this area is the so-called ‘network healthcare’. In the absence of a standard definition, I would describe this as ‘a way of providing healthcare in which care providers no longer merely work together within known boundaries, but collaborate in organised networks – “healthcare networks” – that transcend these known boundaries’. An important cause for the emergence of network healthcare are the increasing healthcare needs, mostly due to the number of chronically ill patients, in a society that has diverging views on ‘being a patient’ and health. These developments have been discussed in several studies. The SARS-CoV2 pandemic has been another ‘stimulating’ factor due to the overwhelming demand for acute healthcare, and the need for collaboration between care providers, even across national borders. Herein network healthcare aims to improve healthcare; the patient benefits from receiving the right healthcare in the right place. Therefore, network healthcare is a positive improvement. However, a side effect is the possibility that carelessness in the collaboration between the care providers could lead to damages. Accordingly, it cannot be ruled out that the patient may wish to recover damages from the healthcare network; research has proven that this is one of the needs of the patient. This is where a problem lies: Dutch civil liability law is not designed to deal with forms of collaboration such as this …
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Rolinka P Wijne, ‘Medical liability and interorganisational relationships in healthcare: a European problem and a Dutch proposal’ (2023) 39(2) Professional Negligence 71-86.
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