[Evaluation of the Dutch Individual Health Care Professions Act]

In 1997 the Dutch Individual Health Care Professions Act on the regulation of professions in health care came into force. This Act introduced a major reorganisation of the legal regulation of health-care professions. The evaluation of the Act, completed in 2002, indicates that the new legal structure has improved the quality of care. Yet several shortcomings have also been found in the Act, in terms of both the concept and the content. These are mainly due to discrepancies between the starting points and the concept of the Act on the one hand and the developments that have actually taken place in health care on the other hand, as well as a rather inactive system of inspection and control. The researchers who carried out the evaluation have formulated several proposals for improving the contents and effectiveness of the Act.